PUTRAJAYA, April 30 — Putrajaya has reiterated today that the Home Ministry is pushing to amend the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 this year.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the amendments are expected to “strengthen” the right to assemble, but did not elaborate.
“The Home Ministry hopes to table the amendments in the nearest sitting, or by latest October,” he told reporters at today’s post-Cabinet meeting press conference.
“This amendment is expected to strengthen the right to assemble.”
Fahmi also claimed that “99 per cent” of applications to hold peaceful protests between 2022 and 2024 were approved by the authorities.
In February, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had announced that the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 will be amended in the next parliamentary session.
He further said that Putrajaya will remove problematic Section 11, which has been an obstacle to demonstrators as it requires the consent of the owner or occupier of the place of assembly.
Anwar, who had participated in rallies before he was once again voted in to form a government, said that his government had issued a moratorium for the police to ignore the problematic provision.
He emphasised that currently the police only needed to receive a notification from demonstrators five days beforehand to ensure public safety and to manage traffic.
