During the wee hours of last Friday, amendments were made to the Sedition Act 1948 reinforcing this archaic law with more powers besides imposing harsher penalties .
The amendments had sought to increase the maximum jail term for certain offences under the act from three years to 20 years.
While criticism of the government and judiciary is no longer considered seditious under the amended law, the definition of sedition is now expanded to include seditious statements relating to religion.
The Sedition (Amendments) Bill 2015 went to the second reading stage with a vote of 108 to 79 and was passed after 14 hours of debate.
The vote was closely watched because opposition Pakatan Rakyat MPs earned brickbats due to the absenteeism of some within their ranks during the final vote on the Prevention of Terrorism Bill (Pota) which allows for detention without trial.
Some BN MPs who had previously broken ranks with the ruling coalition to speak out against detention without trial but voted for the bill were likewise criticised.
For the vote on the Sedition (Amendments) Bill 2015, the seven absent Pakatan MPs were Abdul Hadi Awang (PAS-Marang), Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS-Kota Bharu), Shamsul Iskandar (PKR-Bukit Katil), R Sivarasa (PKR-Subang), Fuziah Salleh (PKR-Kuantan), Liew Chin Tong (DAP-Kluang) and Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong).
Video footage
Unlike many modern democracies, the Malaysian Parliament does not record details of bloc votes instead providing only the final number, making it nearly impossible for voters to scrutinise how their MPs vote in Parliament.
The names of those who voted is only available at a much later date on request and is not publicly displayed.
However, Malaysiakini has managed to compile a list of MPs who voted for and against the Sedition (Amendments) Bill 2015 by going through dozens of photographs and video footages taken by the MPs themselves when the vote was called and cross-checking these against the Dewan Rakyat seating plan.
Based on these materials, it was possible to establish the identities of 105 of the 108 BN MPs, plus the 79 opposition MPs who were present when Parliament voted on strengthening a law that has been applied mostly on opposition members and civil society activists.
Those who voted in favour
Those who voted against
