03.03.2000
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has just made Malaysia a
laughing
stock of the democratic world by his ridiculous justification for virtually
banning HARAKAH.
Without advance notice, and only after the annual publication permit
had already
expired, Badawi suddenly announced on 1st March 2000 that HARAKAH’s
publication
was to be drastically cut down from twice a week to twice a month under
the new
licence, bringing HARAKAH’s publication to a screeching stop.
He added
nonchalantly that HARAKAH could take it or leave it.
Reason for this lightning strike out of the blue?
Badawi’s reason was that he wanted to “standardise the publication
of all
political parties’ newspapers or magazines”.
Why standardise?
Badawi explained: “The standardisation of the publication period would
give a
fair opportunity to other political parties. Other parties publish
monthly or
bi-monthly. UMNO also publishes bi-monthly.” He further
categorically denied
that the move on HARAKAH was a political decision, adding that he would
have
closed the publication long ago, if the motivation was political.
And so this Nation had been entertained to an unbelievable lecture by
the Deputy
Prime Minister cum Minister of Home Affairs on the necessity to standardise
the
publication period for all political parties – reminiscent of a school
teacher
taking measures to standardise the study schedules for his students.
These
utterances of the DPM are as shocking as they are senseless.
Firstly, the idea of introducing standard publication period for all
political
parties is totally out of order. The DPM is not running a school,
but a
country. If a political party decides to publish its publication
at a certain
frequency, it is none of the business of the government to dictate
otherwise,
unless that particular frequency of publication impinges on the laws.
How has
HARAKAH breached the law by publishing twice a week?
Secondly, the question of fairness never arises. Badawi implied
that by
publishing more frequently, HARAKAH had denied “fair opportunity”
to other
political parties. How could that possibly have happened, unless
there is a law
stating that when HARAKAH publishes more frequently, the other parties
must
publish less frequently? The fact that UMNO publishes only twice
a month is no
good reason for the Government to force HARAKAH to reduce its publication
frequency to that of UMNO. Badawi’s poor logic only betrays his
immaturity.
Through his jealous reflex and impaired judgement, he has caused the
overnight
virtual cessation of one of the largest circulating publication in
this Country.
That the second highest leader of the Government has made a blunder
of this
magnitude with such fundamental flaws is a matter of the gravest concern
to the
Nation. The calibre and integrity of the entire Government is
now called into
serious question.
It is of course entirely possible that this latest move against HARAKAH
is
politically motivated, in which case, Badawi has lied to the Nation.
He has
therefore worked himself into a loose-loose position where he could
only be
interpreted as either a liar or a muddle-headed administrator.
Either way, the above episode vividly illustrates how powerful the Malaysian
Government is when it comes to cracking down on press freedom.
The Publication
and Printing Act has virtually given the Government unlimited power
to stop or
curtail any publication without having to justify for it. This
also amply
explains why the local press practices heavy self-censorship – to stay
alive in
their business. Imagine the disastrous consequences to a newspaper
if it has to
stop publishing for just one week due to the late issue of its new
annual
licence (not to mention an outright failure to procure a new licence
which it
has to apply for every year). Apart from incurring heavy financial
losses for
that one week of stoppage, the newspaper has to suffer an even more
punishing
set back, which is the massive defection of its readers to its competitors.
The
thoughts of that happening are so frightening that no newspaper publisher
will
ever risk doing anything that might court the displeasure of the powers
that be.
HARAKAH is the only mass-circulating publication carrying independent
news in
this Country, as all other newspapers have been reduced to mere mouthpiece
(of
different shades) of the ruling party, constantly distorting news to
favour the
ruling party and to ill treat the opposition. To millions of
Malaysians who
depended solely on HARAKAH to quench their thirst for justice and fair
reporting,
the virtual banning of HARAKAH is a heavy blow to their free spirit
and an
irreplaceable loss. Woe to the one who inflicts such injustice
on the masses,
for he deserves the wrath and condemnation of all right thinking Malaysians.
Atrocious as the above case may be, it is but one of a series of repressive
actions taken by the Government to crush political opposition, following
the
unprecedented set back suffered by UMNO in the last General Election
at end
November 1999. The results of the last General Election reveal
in no uncertain
terms that UMNO has lost the support of the Malay heartland, which
had been the
very backbone of UMNO’s hegemony of political power since Independence
4 decades
ago. To survive, UMNO has to either reform OR intensify its crackdown
on the
opposition. The recalcitrant Mahathir has given unmistaken signals
that reform
is not his kind of dish. He is now even prescribing the same
undemocratic
medicine (which he used to prescribe for the opposition) for his own
Party. By
decreeing “no contest’ for his top Party post for the second straight
session,
he is on his way to become the longest serving President by decree
of a ruling
party in a democratic country – another “first” in his cap of feathers,
in the
true “Malaysia Boleh” tradition.
With history to guide us, we can expect more undemocratic crackdowns
from
Mahathir, not only on the opposition, but also on UMNO this time, keeping
in
view the imminent Party elections. There is very little the common
people can
do about this, with a string of draconian laws bearing on them, save
in casting
their votes in an election (and even that is heavily manipulated),
which is a
distant 5 years from now.
The subject of election brings to mind an on-coming by-election in the
State
seat of Sanggang in the Parliamentary constituency of Mentakab in Pahang.
This
by-election must be held before 26th April 2000, in time for UMNO members
to
digest this by-election result during their Party conference to elect
their
leaders in mid May 2000. Malaysians in general and UMNO members
in particular
should recognise the great significance of this godsend opportunity
to express
their feelings with regards to the recent trampling on democracy in
this
Country. A vote against the Barisan Nasional candidate by the
general public is
a vote for democracy in this Country, and a similar vote by an UMNO
member is a
vote towards the demolition of the tyrant in their party.
Kim Quek.