Failed Sosma motion: 'They don’t like to see my face’ - Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin claimed that several government MPs walked out of the Dewan Rakyat during the voting on Subsection 4 (5) of the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) motion because they 'did not like' seeing his face.

The Larut MP from Bersatu at the same time expressed his displeasure over the action which caused the motion to fail to get the approval of the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.

“I feel a bit upset with some MPs, especially from the government itself, because I believed to be in the hall during the split vote, (but) they chose to step out the hall during the vote.

“Of course, I am not happy (with their action of leaving the Dewan Rakyat). Some of them are already in the hall but they went out during the split vote. That's not fair, I can name who.

"(The reason for leaving) is because they don't like my face," he told reporters after attending the 215th Police Memorial Day Parade at the Police Training Center (Pulapol), here on Friday.

He was asked to comment on the action of the elected representatives from the government bloc who walked out of the Dewan Rakyat last Wednesday.

Commenting further, Hamzah said the actions shown by the MPs of the government bloc reflected the mindset of the individuals who did not think of the responsibility to the country.

"I have explained that the Sosma issue is a national security issue. When it is rejected by the opposition, it means that although they claim to love the country, they are not aware that Soswa was done after we withdrew the ISA (Internal Security Act).

“When we abolished the ISA, back then, there were several events after the ISA being withdrawn, a lot of planned crime took place.

"Due to that, an important instrument has to be in place. In the end, we tolerated it by only giving 28 days to be fair for all parties. When the act was approved and extended in 2017, it will finally expire in July this year.

The Dewan Rakyat failed to approve the motion to extend the effective period of Subsection 4 (5) of Sosma for another five years.

The motion was rejected after the results of a division vote showed only 84 MPs supported, while 86 MPs did not support, and 50 MPs were not present.

The failure of the motion resulted in the Home Ministry (KDN) not being able to extend the effect of Subsection 4 (5) from July 31 next year - Awani