Defamation is not a cause of the collapse of the BN

KUALA LUMPUR: UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) have to accept the fact that they fall to Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 14th General Election (GE-14) not due to defamation.

UMNO veteran, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, said that the BN's defeat factor in GE-14 was due to the aspirations of the people to make a change, underestimating the influence of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the denial of syndrome and failed to counter the perception of the perception.

The 20-year-old former Kota Tinggi UMNO division head said that BN was also seen as "happy" during the campaign and like trying to deny the wave of change the people wanted and the rise of PH's influence under Dr Mahathir's leadership.

"What I mean is that BN can not blame anyone, this is the time to wonder why it's losing. It's not an economic factor or defamation that results in this decision.

"They (the people) want to change. I have written about this wave of change and it is felt but I do not understand when BN is happy and unknowingly change," he told NSTP today.

Yesterday, former UMNO president, Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed that the defeat of the BN in GE-14 was due to the opposition party's defamation.

The Pekan MP claimed that the PH campaign which at that time was an overly personal attack and slanderous and hatred caused the BN to fall after 61 years into government.

Syed Hamid, who is also the former Chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), said other factors contributing to the defeat of BN was the lack of trust between the people and the wider government after much of the government tried to hide.

At the same time, UMNO underestimates Dr Mahathir's ability at such age, it is still able to inspire young people to make a decisive victory in the elections.

"UMNO is seen as a personal issue and Dr Mahathir's curse, which is the former Prime Minister for 22 years, if he did nothing during that time, people did not accept it, many young people living in his time," he said.

Commenting further, Syed Hamid said UMNO and BN should now be positive and accept the GE-14 results and should be prepared to be constructive opposition.

"Now that BN has been destroyed, Najib has resigned, and BN will be an opposition and must know the role of the opposition," he said.

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Fake News Act will be repealed

KUALA LUMPUR: The Fake News Act will be repealed, which was gazetted in April, will be abolished, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

He said the proposal to abolish the act would be brought to the Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to enable the act to be abolished immediately.

"I have a list that we have to look into and I will have a press conference tomorrow to inform us specifically." As stated in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, we will abolish this act.

"We will set a time frame, the first 100 days we have to fulfill but how much time will I need to discuss with my officer tomorrow, and I will do it and start working exactly 8.30am tomorrow," he said.

He said this when met after his oath of office and loyalty and secret oath of secrecy with 12 other Cabinet Ministers in the presence of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V, at Istana Negara, today.

As a new minister in the ministry, Gobind, 45, said media freedom was his main agenda and he was committed in that regard.

However, he said the matter should be made based on existing laws.

"Freedom of the media is my priority. Media makes news and publishing companies tied to existing laws, so we need to look in that sense.

"We have to find ways to increase the freedom of the press in the country. I will create a group of legislators so they can see the impact of the law, where there are weaknesses and we will try to improve," he said.

Among other things to be reviewed are several laws relating to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), involving complaints and investigations into several reported cases.

Additionally, the Puchong MP said he would also give serious attention to the overall aspect of news reporting and to find ways to local television system to compete with international media channels.

He said local media should learn from the international media to be more knowledgeable in delivering news.

Gobind, who is also the Deputy Chairman of DAP, holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Warwick Britain and Law Department from Lincoln's Inn.

He was admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 1996 and continued his father's legacy, former DAP veteran leader, late Karpal Singh.

Gobind's involvement in politics began 10 years ago as a Member of the DAP Central Executive Committee to date and has been the deputy chairman of the Selangor DAP Committee from 2015 until last year.

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