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KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister has chided the Opposition for playing politics after it criticised him for the sedition charges slapped on its leaders.
“Deal with the consequences if you break the law,” Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told Perikatan Nasional leaders, who renewed their attacks on him after the coalition’s chairman and Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was charged under the Sedition Act 1948 earlier this week.
Anwar noted that the police report made by the Pahang palace against Muhyiddin and another by the Selangor palace against Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor had led to the sedition charges being slapped on Opposition leaders.
“They (the Opposition) shouldn’t twist this as they should know how the process works.
“They are just playing politics,” he told reporters at the launch and groundbreaking ceremony of the Residensi Suria Madani housing project here yesterday.
The Prime Minister was asked to comment on the statement by Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin condemning Anwar and Pakatan Harapan leaders for previously opposing the Act and promising in their election manifesto to abolish what they termed a “draconian law”.
In his statement on Wednesday, Hamzah hit out at Pakatan for having repeatedly used the Sedition Act since taking over the federal administration.
His comment came after Muhyiddin was charged in the Gua Musang Sessions Court on Tuesday with making seditious remarks during the Nenggiri by-election campaign in Kelantan recently.
Muhyiddin pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the charge was based on a police report lodged by a representative of the Pahang palace.
On Aug 19, Tengku Mahkota Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah expressed anger and displeasure at Muhyiddin who, he said, had deliberately and cynically commented on the responsibilities and role of the Sultan of Pahang when he was Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
In his statement, Tengku Hassanal also called on the police to take stern action on Muhyiddin after he was said to have touched on race, religion and royalty (3R) issues in a speech.
Last year, five members of the Dewan di-Raja Selangor lodged a police report against Muhammad Sanusi for allegedly questioning the authority of the Selangor royal institution in the appointment of the state’s Mentri Besar.
