A bill to abolish the death penalty for all crimes in the country will be tabled in this Parliament meeting, which has stirred debates among the public. At the Parliament today (Oct 16), I asked the Prime Minister to state the justification to abolish death penalty and whether the Government has made a detailed study and listen to the public views on the proposal.

Based on the reply by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law) Datuk Liew Vui Keong, I get the impression that the decision was rushed through without taking all views into consideration. Liew said the proposal to abolish death penalty came from a study done by the International Centre for Law and Legal Studies under the Attorney General’s Chamber. In fact, the very same report was submitted to the previous Cabinet. We had refrained from rushing into a decision and consulted the views of all stakeholders.

One of the important groups of people we have to keep in mind is the families of murdered victims. Imagine their sadness when the lives of their loved ones were forcefully taken away. Justice must be served on these cases and we have to take their sentiments into consideration.

Of course then there will be voices that say, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” If we look at the crime cases In Malaysia, most of the death penalties were imposed on drug-related offenses which carry a mandatory death sentence. If so, the government should have proposed to amend sections of our existing acts Acts to change mandatory death penalty to discretionary punishment. We should leave it to the judges to decide on each case based on the findings.

While the minister said death penalty is not effective in reducing crime cases, I believe most agree that keeping the death penalty produces a strong deterrent effect that save lives. It will rein in those with the intention to kill.

As for my suggestion to form a select committee to review the decision, the minister did not offer a direct response.

I urge the government not to rush into abolishing death penalty but to take its time to study all views. The minister said this was promised in Pakatan Harapan’s election manifesto. Well, didn’t Pakatan say that its manifesto is not a holy book? If it is sincere in fulfilling its election promises, it should have prioritised abolishing tolls instead.

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-MCA online-