Pakatan MPs walk out as BN refuses to withdraw assembly law

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang was the last PR MP allowed to speak today. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers staged a walkout today after accusing Barisan Nasional (BN) of rushing through the controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia had allowed just three opposition MPs to debate the proposed law, all of whom asked for it to be withdrawn and put before a select committee.

"This is our way of rejecting the Bill until we have a select committee," PKR's Subang MP R. Sivarasa told The Malaysian Insider as the opposition lawmakers left Parliament.

"This Bill does not protect national security, only the security of BN leaders," said PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who was the last PR MP allowed to speak.

Critics have said the proposed law, which bars street protests, is more repressive than those in countries like Myanmar, which has one of the world's poorest human rights records.

Myanmar's military-dominated Parliament passed a law last week allowing street protests and a notice period of just five days, fewer than the 10 days required by the Peaceful Assembly Bill.

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