HASSAN Karim’s suggestion that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (picture) reinstated a 2018 moratorium on the use of the Sedition Act 1948 sounded like an acceptable compromise under the current circumstances.

Even though it falls short of the promise of repeal by both Anwar and Pakatan Harapan, with critics of the Government being investigated and questioned under the Act, the honourable thing PH leaders could do in the very least, is to place a moratorium on it as suggested by Hassan and apply other laws instead, like the Penal Code for one.

Some suggested that Anwar and the PH-led Government may be reluctant to re-instating the moratorium as it was put in place by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he was PM the second time around.

Not only did he not allow the use of the Sedition Act, but Dr Mahathir had also made it a point to disallow the police from arresting or calling his critics in for questioning.

As such, it was not surprising that Hassan, a Parti Keadilan Rakyat man and Member of Parliament for Pasir Gudang had cheekily said that surely the “more reformist” Madani Government under PM Anwar should be more progressive compared to Dr Mahathir.

While such comparisons may not sit well with Anwar, PH and their supporters, it is probably time for them to wake up and smell the coffee.

That all is not well in the Madani realm, or rather there is something rotten.

It may be argued that Anwar and PH’s promises on the repeal of the Sedition Act are not exclusive, meaning that other PMs before him had promised likewise and failed to deliver, Dr Mahathir included.

But as pointed out by Hassan, Dr Mahathir, almost immediately after assuming office the second time around, went on to find ways and means to put in place what was promised.

The Sedition Act is not the only term of reference here.

Take Dr Mahathir’s reaction to the one million anti-ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination — a United Nations treaty) rally in December 2018 when he was still helming the Government.

The authorities then permitted the rally to be carried out with Dr Mahathir urging participants to keep the event peaceful, protect public property and not litter.

He was also on record stating that he prayed the rally would go on smoothly without any untoward incident and “let us celebrate democracy in Malaysia.”

Yet, public rallies are still frowned upon today when the Madani Government, whose leaders are graduates of demonstrations and public protests, should be celebrating if not encouraging it.

Unfortunately, it is not only Anwar and PH leaders, who have reneged on their promises, that are the problem.

The bigger problem is their supporters turned sycophants.

Instead of holding to their struggle for reforms as they chanted and wore on their sleeves when they were against previous administrations and PMs, they now become apologists to Anwar’s and PH’s failure to affect the changes.

The worst is when their justifications for the failure are by making comparisons to previous administrations and PMs in which the others too did not make any reforms or had indulged in draconian laws and authoritarianism.

Every time critics raised issues with Anwar and the current administration for reneging on their promises and failure to pursue the reforms, they became defensive and to a certain extent reactionary, pointing out how the previous administrations had failed to deliver as well.

Conveniently ignored is the fact that Anwar and his ilk had campaigned for public support and approval on the basis that they would be different from their predecessors, affect reforms immediately, and abolish all that they define as being against human rights and the lot.

Simply put, Anwar and PH promised wide-ranging reforms that would weed out all that is evil from the past.

With that, apart from providing new hope, Anwar and PH placed themselves on a pedestal that they are the better kind of politicians, reform-minded, humane, incorruptible, protector of the poor and downtrodden and many more.

With that, they are bound by a higher moral code and expectations are in abundance of them making Malaysia much, much better than it was ever before. Their promises, if reflected on, were that Malaysia was going to be almost heaven on earth.

It is on these standards and expectations that Anwar assumed office alongside his PH sidekicks.

But instead of fulfilling or pursuing the promises, they reneged on them and they did so unapologetically.

The Sedition Act is a simple example of what is occurring in our Paradise Lost – not only it has not been repealed, there is not even any attempt to place a moratorium on it. It would probably be quite acceptable if the act is not used.

Instead, it is being used extensively.

In the first place, they wanted the Sedition Act of 1948 repealed because it is archaic, unjust, punitive and subject to abuses including being used to silence critics.

It is easy to make an assessment of it and to arrive at a conclusion. For starters, there was a full-fledged, full-blooded promise of repealing it if they got to take over the nation’s helm. When they did, they dragged their feet on repealing it.

While the public are not holding their breath in waiting for the Sedition Act to be repealed for fear they might turn blue, the authorities used it extensively including on those who criticised them or said things which were not music to their ears. For these lies or scams in modern parlance, a critic labelled Anwar a scammer.

The critic is now being probed for sedition. That’s hypocrisy, isn’t it?