by Wong Choon Mei
To mark Malaysia Day, Prime
Minister Najib Razak sprung a shock raft of reforms that upon closer scrutiny
led nowhere. Civil society and legal experts were left dumbfounded at his
audacity and inability to learn from hard knocks of the past that the Rakyat or populace was no longer so easily
fooled by the superficial and the cosmetic.
The People's Justice Party or PKR led by Opposition Leader
Anwar Ibrahim ticked Najib off for trying to give a false impression to
Malaysians that they could look forward to greater democracy and social
justice, when effectively, there was little real change and a possibility that
new laws made to replace the ISA could contain similarly oppressive clauses.
"Firstly, we don't know
what new laws will be made to replace the ISA and Emergency Ordinance. They
could be worse. Also, if Najib was really sincere, he would have lifted the
Sedition Act and the Official Secrets Act, which they are already using to
force the people into obedience. We have always said there was no need for the
ISA. The Sedition Act and the OSA are bad enough," PKR strategies director
Rafizi Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.
Not
just the law per se but how the law is used and
carried out
Malaysia Chronicle also spoke
to several professionals about the what they though of the reforms. One of them, an
investment director who only wanted to be known as MK, said what was more
important was how the laws were carried out by the people entrusted to do so.
"What Najib has done is
he has effectively admitted that outdated laws like ISA and EO have been abused
by the government and the police to achieve ends which the laws were never
designed for. Now he calls for their repeal, which of course is a good thing,
but for real changes to be felt by the people, it is not only the law which
needs change, but the manner in which they are used," MK told Malaysia Chronicle.
"Until the government stops the systematic abuse and
misuse of not just the legal system but also institutions like the police and
the election commission, civil liberties remain out of reach for us
Malaysians. After all, we used to have an independent judiciary who
interpreted the law without fear or favour. Nowadays, the government can enact
all the shiny new laws they want, because it is the interpretation and
administration of those laws which can be perverted."
Malaysia's
image will be further blackened by the latest attempt to deceive
Initially, the news was cautiously greeted by
leaders as a victory for the people, including the thousands of activists both
local and foreign who fought through the decades for the ISA's removal. In
2009, more than 30,000 Malaysians from all walks of life had congregated at
Kuala Lumpur to protest the ISA. In return, the police dealt out one of the
worst cases of brutality, hitting demonstrators at random with batons and long
canes. Tear gas and water cannons were indiscriminately at the Gerakan Mansuh
ISA in 2009.
On July 9, 2011, was the Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections
that precipitated Thursday's unveiling of 'reforms'. Ignoring advise from many
quarters, an arrogant Najib again resorted to ham-fisted action that drew
condemnation from the United States, the UN Human Rights Commission and Amnesty
International. It walloped Malaysia's credibility in the eyes of the world and
there is little doubt the latest attempt to deceive the public here and abroad
will further blacken the country's image. Due to Najib's mishandling of the
Bersih rally, his popularity rating plunged 6 percentage points to 59 percent
in August from 65 percent in May.
The 58-year-old Najib is now flailing, trying to bolster
confidence in his BN coalition ahead of the general election widely expected to
take place within months. Within his Umno, a move has already begun to unseat
him, with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin the likely successor. This
latest fiasco will be another nail in Najib's coffin.
PKR legal affairs director Latheefa Koya minced no words,
warning that Najib had said he would create two new laws. The new legislation
would likely mimic the ISA and the Emergency laws that were repealed. She said
Article 149 inserted by the BN into the Federal Constitution during the days
when the coalition had two-thirds majority in Parliament was itself an
emergency instrument. The much reviled Article 149 allows the BN to formulate
whatever laws they needed as and when they wished, so long as they held sway in
the House.
"Let's not be fooled.
Najib purports to repeal the ISA but only to be replaced by 2 new Acts, not
one, through the provision under Article 149 which gives power to the
Parliament to pass special laws to stop or prevent any actual or threatened
action by a large body of persons which Parliament believes to be prejudicial
to public order, promoting hostility between races, causing disaffection
against the State, causing citizens to fear organised violence against them or
property, or prejudicial to the functioning of any public service or supply!
This gives preventive detention a constitutional status," Latheefa said in
a statement to Malaysia Chronicle.
"I remain unimpressed. There is no reason to create a
big show and speak down to the nation as if he were like God, bestowing
freedoms. Especially, when he is not the rescuer, not the freedom fighter but
the captor. He is just the captor letting go of the abused captives."
Freedom
of expression and speech is as curtailed as before
PKR leaders were also not impressed by the lifting of a
requirement for media firms to renew their publishing licenses on a yearly
basis. They pointed out that a licence still needed to be obtained from the
Home Ministry, and that the power to rescind such licenses at any time and for
any reason whatsoever was still available to the Home Minister.
"All the mainstream
media are already owned by the political parties like Umno, MCA and MIC. They
will toe the party line whether or not the license needs annual renewal. For
the alternative media, the beneficiaries are the PAS papers like Harakah. But
even then these can be banned at anytime," PKR vice president and Batu MP
Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
"Also notice, Najib did
not uplift the ban on Suara Keadilan. In other words, he uplifted a superfluous
clause. If you don't believe, try applying for a licence to publish a Malaysia
Chronicle daily or
weekly and see whether you can get any approval?"
Still
refusing to acknowledge a two-party system
Indeed, it does not augur well and implies that the current
chaotic political environment will continue until even after the next general
elections, which many believe will be held within the next few months.
Najib's tacit refusal to grant greater democratic space, or
any acknowledgment that a two-party political system is already in place in the
country, signals a refusal to embrace real reforms.
"The governments stranglehold on our
freedoms remains. It is particularly striking that the PM throughout his speech
uses the language of oppression and underlying menace to declare apparent new
freedoms. Every pronouncement is accompanied by warnings, caveats and
restrictions. This does not augur well as a precursor to a new freer
Malaysia," N Surendran, human rights
lawyer and PKR vice president, told Malaysia
Chronicle.
Electoral
reforms ignored
While he promised to review the law forbidding Malaysians to
assemble in public, agreeing to allow freedom of assembly according to
international norms, seasoned human rights activists said Malaysia has long
been a signatory to the United Nations human rights declarations and still
flouted the prescribed standards. What guarantee that Najib - known for his
flip flops - would keep to his word?
"He should have declared the abolition of
the requirement of a permit for such assemblies," said Surendran.
Najib was also ominously silent on the electoral reforms
demanded by the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally. Already, a Parliamentary Select
Committee for election reforms that he set up last month has run into trouble
after a heady start, much like Thursday night's glitzy show. Najib soon made
clear there were limits as to what he would allow, prompting rebuke all round
and a threat by the Pakatan to boycott the PSC.
"This is the core of democracy - the right to vote and
to be sure your vote is properly accounted. The current system is so corrupt
and skewed it is a mockery of our fundamental democratic rights," said
Tian.
"I cannot believe Najib could completely ignore
electoral reforms. he could have at least renewed his promise to ensure that
the electoral roll is cleaned up before he calls for snap polls."
The
announcements
In his Malaysia Day eve address televised live on prime time
TV, Najib had promised to revoke the ISA and the thre Emergency laws once
Parliament begins on October 3. Other changes he announced included:
*Government to table motion in parliament to repeal all 3
Proclamations of Emergency currently in force so that Malaysians can move
forward
*Internal Security Act to be repealed; replaced with
anti-terrorism laws limiting detention without trial; no one to be arrested for
their political ideology
*Banishment Act 1959 to be abolished; Restricted Residence Act
1933 to be reviewed
*Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, that requires
yearly renewal of publishing licence by media companies, will be abolished
*The law forbidding assembly in public places will be reviewed
to allow freedom of assembly according to international norms
Najib also said that new laws would be enacted to protect the
peace, harmony and security of the country.
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Source : MC
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