Pakatan Rakyat MPs are seeking, through the Office of the Speaker of Parliament, to delay the government’s plans to pass amendments to the Sedition Act 1948.

They are invoking Standing Order 36(2), which prohibits MPs from raising issues that are currently under the judiciary’s consideration, if the speaker deems it to be damaging to the interests of the parties involved in the hearing.

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo explained that the Federal Court is now deliberating the constitutionality of the Sedition Act as part of the criminal charges against Universiti Malaya law lecturer Azmi Sharom.

“We are calling for this amendment bill to be deferred because it is quite clear that we are not allowed to debate something that is currently pending in court.

“I think the government overlooked this when it tabled the bill today,” Gobind ( right ) told a press conference in the Parliament lobby.

To a question, he said the same standing order had been used to prevent him from raising the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder scandal in Parliament while the case was still being adjudicated.

Other opposition MPs too faced the same issue, Gobind said, when raising PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II trial.

However, he said, he was not aware of any precedent where a bill was deferred because of a court matter.

No precedent

The Federal Court heard the final submissions from lawyers for Azmi and the government on March 24 and has reserved its judgment.

To a question, he said the same standing order had been used against him from raising the Altantuya murder scandal in Parliament while the case was still being adjudicated.

Other opposition MPs faced the same issue when raising PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II trial, he added.

 

However, he said he is not aware of any precedent where a bill was deferred because of a court matter.

 

The Federal Court has already heard final submissions from Azmi’s and the government’s lawyers on March 24 and has reserved its judgement.

 

When asked later, de facto law minister Nancy Shukri ( above ) rubbished claims that debating the amendment would be against the standing order, saying that it was only “their interpretation”.

 

She added that if the government were to wait for Azmi’s case to be resolved, the process could take years.