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Jailed leaders shaking up Malaysian
politics
By Anil Netto
PENANG, Malaysia - The man slated to succeed
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in October next year is
facing renewed calls from rights groups to release
political activists held under harsh security laws after
a Federal Court ruling this month.
All eyes will
be on Deputy Premier Abdullah Badawi, who is also home
minister, to see if he will bow to the demands. It would
be his first major test since stepping into the
limelight after Mahathir's decision to step down. But
few are hopeful that the court's ruling will have any
bearing on the fate of the detainees.
On
September 6, the country's highest court unanimously
ruled that the initial 60-day detention of five
opposition leaders on April 10 last year under the
Internal Security Act (ISA) was unlawful and in bad
faith. The court, however, did not order their immediate
release, as it said the decision would not affect the
subsequent two-year detention order signed by Home
Minister Abdullah. The detention orders can be renewed
indefinitely.
But rights groups have been
calling for the release of the detainees, arguing that
the subsequent detention order was based on the findings
of the initial 60-day interrogation period. The Abolish
ISA Movement (AIM) said it would intensify its campaign
for the repeal of the law and the release of the
detainees. AIM is a network of 83 pressure groups,
opposition parties and trade unions set up after the
government detained a string of political activists.
The grouping plans to lodge a police report
against the Inspector General of Police for the unlawful
arrests last year and to submit memoranda to the Human
Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and to Abdullah.
It also wants to brief embassies on the implications of
the court's decision and to send a protest letter to the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The country's Bar Council is also adding to the
pressure. Bar Council chairman Mah Weng Kwai said that
since the initial detention by the police had been
declared unjustified by the Federal Court, there was
therefore no valid ground for the government to continue
their detention. "The Bar Council is further of the view
that a speedy, unilateral decision to release [the
detainees] by the government following the decision of
the Federal Court is not only the legally proper course
of action, but also necessary to demonstrate the
government's continued commitment to the rule of law in
this country," he added.
Of the five whose case
the Federal Court ruled on September 6, one was released
after 52 days and another has been charged and jailed
for revealing "official secrets" pertaining to an
anti-corruption probe implicating two senior ruling
coalition officials. The remaining three are holed up in
the Kamunting Detention Camp north of Kuala Lumpur along
with some 110 other ISA detainees. Two other detained
political activists were not named as appellants in this
case but their lawyer says the decision should also
apply to them, as they were arrested under similar
circumstances.
The ISA arrests in early 2001
appeared to target the National Justice Party (Keadilan)
and left the party crippled after its key second-echelon
leaders - the main crowd-pullers during mass open-air
rallies - were detained.
Many analysts have
regarded the political contest in Malaysia as a struggle
between Mahathir's United Malays National Organization
(UMNO) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) for the hearts
and minds of ethnic Malay-Muslim voters, who make up
just over half the electorate. That view is not without
substance: PAS controls the east coast states of
Kelantan and Terengganu and is hoping to gain control of
two or three more Muslim-dominated states in the next
general election. And last week, Abdul Hadi Awang, a
conservative hardliner who heads PAS, formally took over
as parliamentary opposition leader after the incumbent
passed away in June.
On September 9, Hadi tabled
an emergency resolution to debate the fate of the ISA
detainees in parliament. The parliamentary Speaker,
however, rejected the motion, arguing that the issue was
not urgent and could be debated any time.
A few
analysts believe that ruling-coalition officials are
just as worried about Keadilan, which presents a more
multi-ethnic face. The party may pose a threat in the
ethnically mixed areas if disenchantment over language
and educational policies take root.
It is headed
by Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of jailed ex-deputy
premier Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar's ouster in September 1998
unleashed reformasi, a clamor for wide-ranging
political and social reforms that shook the Mahathir
administration.
Keadilan is set to merge with
the left-leaning Malaysian People's Party (PRM), a move
that will strengthen the middle ground and provide an
alternative for non-Muslim and ethnic-Chinese voters who
may not be comfortable with either PAS on the one side
or UMNO and its race-based coalition allies on the
other.
Though PAS seems to pose the biggest
threat now, the ruling coalition ironically may find it
easier to counter it by labeling its members as
extremists and by arguing that its conservative
interpretation of Islam would be out of synch with
national aspirations and economic ambitions.
Harder to counter would be a moderate opposition
party with solid multi-ethnic credentials. Although the
party is still largely Malay-based, it has attracted a
growing number of younger Chinese-Malaysians into its
ranks, say party insiders - and that must worry the
authorities. And of course, Anwar's shadow continues to
haunt the ruling coalition's every move, though the
mainstream media are regarding him as a persona non
grata.
Meanwhile, the judiciary as well has
come under the spotlight for not ordering the immediate
release of the detainees. "It defies logic and disturbs
our conscience that the bench should conclude that it
had no power to decide whether the subsequent two-year
detention order by the minister was unlawful," said P
Ramakrishnan, president of social-reform group Aliran.
"It is baffling that they should advise the appellants
to file another habeas corpus application."
There is talk making the rounds that the
elections, due by 2004, may be held much sooner rather
than later. That would make sense given that economic
prospects remain uncertain. And with an election
looming, the last thing the government needs is fresh
public concern about its rights record.
(©2002
Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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