Malaysiakini :: Letters
Malaysiakini :: Letters |
| Too soon to celebrate Najib's political reforms Posted: 19 Sep 2011 01:51 AM PDT I welcome with caution the announcement made by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over his intention to repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA) and three emergency declarations, and to do away with the requirement for annual printing licenses under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and to amend the Police Act to allow greater freedom of assembly. These repressive laws are an affront to human rights, rule of law, and they should not exist in a democracy in the first place. However, the devil is in the details and it remains to be seen whether Najib actually has the political will and moral conviction to deliver what he announced given the authoritarian nature of the BN government all this while and the opposition that he will face from within Umno itself. Najib announced that two new laws will be drafted to safeguard national security against the threat of terrorism to take the place of the ISA which will be abolished. He did not describe the specifics of these new laws. History has shown that past amendments to the ISA have only made the ISA even more powerful and destructive to civil liberties. Thus, these two new laws could very well grant the government with even greater power than the existing ISA. As a former ISA detainee myself, I have experienced first-hand how the ISA can be used so arbitrarily based on false charges. I welcome Najib's proposal to replace the annually renewable yearly printing license with a one-time license. However, he did not elaborate on the details. It is unclear whether the Home Ministry will retain its absolute discretion to grant, deny or revoke any printing permit. If so, little will be changed from the current situation where editors and journalists are intimidated into biased reporting line for fear of losing their printing permit. In addition, this single amendment alone does little to ensure freedom of press or freedom of information. Currently, all mainstream media in Malaysia are owned or controlled, either directly or indirectly, by BN. Even the state owned-TV channels and radio stations which are supposed to be independent are employed as BN's political tools. Thus, they are not independent and are biased in their news reporting. In the case of Utusan Malaysia and TV3, they remain immune from punishment by the government no matter how racist, seditious or dishonest their so-called news may be. It is clear that the dominance of media ownership by BN component parties is unhealthy for Malaysia. It undermines democracy, undermines good governance and undermines integrity of a political system and the institutions of governance. To even begin to prove his sincerity towards freedom of the press and freedom of information, Najib must put an end to BN's media dominance by lifting all restrictions upon political party organs such as Suara Keadilan, Harakah and Rocket. All party organs should be allowed to be freely distributed in the open market as any other publication. They should not be restricted to "members only" to allow information to be freely disseminated. As it is, opposition political parties face so many restrictions upon our activities by the Home Ministry and the police. With regards to Najib's promise to review restrictions on freedom of assembly contained in the Police Act, it is disappointing that Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein negated Najib with his statement, "strictly no street demonstrations." What a contradiction! If Najib is sincere in living up to his announcement, the Police Act should be amended to respect the right to freedom of assembly. There should not even be a need to apply for a police permit for gatherings as it is allowed by our Federal Constitution. It should be sufficient for the event organiser to give reasonable notice to the police of the date, venue, and agenda of the event. The police should not stand in its way so long as it will be carried out in a peaceful and orderly manner. In short, it is too soon to celebrate on Najib's announcement as they are half-measures. Furthermore, the said proposals must be tabled, debated and passed in Parliament before they become law. Najib must produce more evidence of true political reform, and do so quickly. Otherwise, his claim to being a "Bapa Transformasi" will be a mockery of himself. TERESA KOK is MP for Seputeh and DAP National Organising Secretary. |
| Up to PM to wipe out the 'syok sendiri' culture Posted: 19 Sep 2011 01:11 AM PDT Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is also the BN Chairman, has got it right by highlighting the syok sendiri (self praise) syndrome in BN Selangor recently. The syok sendiri syndrome is very much entrenched in the political culture of BN, be it Umno, MCA or MIC. These parties may differ quite significantly over many issues, but are basically the same as far as self praise is concerned. PM Najib has hit hard at these self-praise actors but the fact remains that they occupy a major part of the BN hierarchy at middle and middle-upper level. Non-syok sendiri but hard-working grassroots leaders will find their political advancement limited. Those practising mainstream culture and values would make sure of that. The self-praise culture is so entrenched in BN that top leaders cannot identify properly the real contributors in grassroot politics. Take the instance of recent nomination for candidacies for next GE. These are the people who do little to promote grassroots politics but in the eyes of top party leaders, appear to be winnable candidates. Of course in the eyes of each and every individual candidate, he or she is the only one that is winnable. Therefore when anyone among them is officially selected as candidate, the others will react negatively. The infiltration of syok sendiri political actors within BN is so deep that it is almost impossible to get one non-syok sendiri candidate. This is where the PM must sort out the mess. To make things worse, Syok sendiri, shoe-shining and related syndromes are not limited to Selangor and certainly won't go away. For all you know, the PM was actually talking in front of a full spectrum of syok sendiri actors. They may have been applauding, apparently nodding in agreement in front of PM but the moment the assembly had ended, it would be back to old habits. Change in BN will depend on how determined the PM is to get rid of these syok sendiri actors and transform the political culture of the party. Right now the syok sendiri method it is the easiest way to advance from below. Having seen so many other comrades succeeding in getting to the top, why should they stay away from syok sendiri? |
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