THE new Pakatan Harapan administration must end the culture of lodging police reports and arresting people over insults against the prime minister, said former Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah.

The activist-turned-Petaling Jaya MP said this only created a culture of fear, which Putrajaya under PH does not intend to promote.

Maria also said Dr Mahathir Mohamad had demonstrated many times that he could deal with criticism and insults.

“We should not follow the previous administration’s disgraceful methods when dealing with criticism. This should be an era of new and inclusive politics for Malaysia.

“Dr Mahathir himself has carried on working despite being the target of insults and criticism when he left Umno, launched the Citizens’ Declaration, formed Bersatu and joined the opposition,” she said in a statement today.

Maria was responding to news that several Perak Bersatu members lodged two police reports on Monday over several postings on Facebook and WhatsApp which allegedly insulted the prime minister. 

Yesterday, several unnamed civil society groups also lodged a police report over insults against the PM, and Langkawi police arrested a man under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

She said the right to freedom of expression had been stated clearly in the PH manifesto and this should be a time where a person’s opinion was respected.

The manifesto, she said, also made it clear that the present PH government intended to abolish oppressive provisions in acts like the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. 

“However, it is also important to remember that while freedom of expression allows for criticism against the government, insults that are violent and aggressive, such as death threats should not be tolerated.” – May 18, 2018.