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Kamla move to have Parliament debate the repeal of the Sedition Act
Posted On 04 Sep 2019
The Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP, j
Image Courtesy: Office of the Parliament.
Leader of the Opposition, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP, has written to the Clerk of the House of Representatives indicating her intention to introduce a Private Member’s Bill: The Sedition Repeal Bill, 2019.
The Bill would be introduced pursuant to Standing Order 60 of the House of Representatives.
The purpose of the Sedition Repeal Bill, 2019 is to repeal the Sedition Act, Chap. 11:04. The Act, which came into force in April 1920, is inimical to the tenets of a modern constitutional democracy.
Mrs. Persad-Bissessar said, “Today, nearly a century after it was enacted, this law has no place in a free and democratic country, and therefore, it should be repealed and completely removed off the statute books.”
“Freedom of speech and expression are enshrined and protected rights in our democracy,” she said. “The party I lead, the United National Congress, will continue to stand for all these rights afforded to all of us under the Constitution.”
The Opposition Leader noted that many modern democracies have abolished their sedition laws.
“The Opposition will continue to do our duty to hold the Government accountable; to ask questions and seek to protect all patriotic citizens from running afoul of this archaic law and an ever-increasing oppressive Government,” she said.
