WILL ISA SAVE MAHATHIR?
13.04.2001
Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's unprepared and
feeble reaction to the lightning police swoop on Opposition leaders using the
draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) leaves little room for imagination as to
who ordered the crackdown on the Opposition (the Home Minister is in charge of
the police). He can be none other than the Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad.
That this ISA crackdown is an unconstitutional move is evident from the clumsy
act of concoction put up by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Norian Mai to
justify the exercise of the powers under Section 73(1) and Section 8 of the
Internal Security Act 1960. Deliberate weaving of falsehood by the top
guardians of the Constitution to crush legitimate political opposition in
violation of the Constitution (Section 10) under these circumstances is an act
of treason against the Constitution. These offenders have betrayed the
trust of the people, and should be branded as traitors, to be prosecuted for
treason.
In his press conference to justify the ISA crackdown, Norian attempted to
convince the Nation and the world that there was a plot to topple the Government
by unconstitutional means. But all the statements made by Norian are
either untrue, innuendoes, or mere speculations. None could withstand a
rudimentary scrutiny.
Norian alleged that the 7 leaders arrested under the ISA were among a 20 member
secret militant group planning to stage large scale MILITANT
demonstrations, the most important of which is the coming "Black 14"
(14th of April), which was to commemorate the second anniversary of the
conviction of Anwar Ibrahim.
When asked to describe in what ways the reformasi demonstrators have carried out
their "militant" operation, Norian asked: "What is meant by
militant?" He then referred to the demonstrations in 1998 (soon after
Anwar was arrested) and said "Molotov cocktails" were then used
against the police, and asked: "Is that not militant?"
When pressed repeatedly to clarify whether there had been any recovery of
weapons during the swoop on the activists this time, he could only come up with
the lame answer: "the tongue is mightier than weapons", which is a
tacit admission that no weapon was found, nor any indication that there was any
weapon.
It is clear from these conversations that Norian has no basis to label the
demonstrations "militant." That he had to go back to 1998 to dig
out something (a few Molotov cocktails) that could hardly be described as weapon
to support his case is confirmation of this fact.
The truth is, in spite of all of Norian's ballyhoo of militancy and weapons,
since the incidents in 1998, the only exhibition of militancy was that
from the police, and the only weapon recovered was a toy gun recovered from an
18 year old student during a similar crackdown on last year's "Back 14"
commemoration, save in that instant, the penal code instead of ISA was used to
arrest the Opposition. On that occasion, the police and the paramilitary
staged one of the largest military like operation ever seen in this Country to
ward off pending public commemoration of Anwar's conviction all over the
Country. Kuala Lumpur city was then infested with police and security
personnel armed to the teeth, roadblocks were set up at all strategic locations,
and potential participants were searched, harassed, turned back and arrested.
In that mammoth operation, the nearest to a weapon that the police could boast
of having recovered from the demonstrators was a toy gun. And the only
violence reported was police chasing and beating up participants. That
episode was the most eloquent testimony to the weapon free and violence free
nature of Alternative Front's street demonstrations. In fact, the
impeccable record of non-violence by the Alternative Front has stood to this
day, true to its avowed principle of constitutional struggles.
Since no weapon has been uncovered, what evidence has Norian obtained to support
his claim that the coming presentation of the Memorandum on Human Rights to the
Human Rights Commission on Black 14 will threaten national security? None
whatsoever! The only basis of Norian's action is his statement: "This
gathering and march has the POTENTIAL to turn into a riot."
For the police chief of a country to make mass arrests of the leaders of an
Opposition party using the most draconian of laws and basing on unfounded
personal speculative thoughts (not backed by any past experience), Norian can
count on the distinction of having performed the most bizarre police act in any
democracy. He must have done Mahathir proud by adding another feather to
Mahathir's cap of "Malaysia Boleh!"
It is not difficult to understand why Mahathir has resorted to the desperado act
of using the ISA to crush the Opposition, something he has not done since 1987.
This could be his last ditch battle for survival, having recently suffered
rapid-fire loss of credibility through a spate of scandalous massive bailout of
cronies using public funds, in the back drop of a plunging economy. Having
lost his credibility, Mahathir's recent economic boosters have been cold
shouldered by the market. His 3 billion ringgit package to counter falling
exports to the US was met with a further decline in the stock market. And
his Third Outline Perspective Plan (2001 - 2010) (OPP3), which painted a rosy
economic scenario for the next ten years and was meant to be a moral booster,
actually met with an even more calamitous fate when the stock market went into a
steep plunge following the presentation of OPP3.
With mounting public outrage over the financial mishandling and the continuing
cruelty on Anwar, and with the economy continuing to decline, the prospect of
Mahathir's political survival appears dimmer by the day. Mahathir's
survival instinct has driven him to take the gamble of using the ISA to crush
his opponents.
The ISA seemed to have worked wonders for Mahathir the last time in 1987.
Can he repeat the same performance?
No way. Simply because in 1987, his opponent was the mainly non-Malay DAP,
and his power base of Malay electorate was intact. Besides, there was some
semblance of justification to use the ISA then due to rising racial tension,
which was in part deliberately created by UMNO to justify the use of ISA.
This time around, Mahathir's opponents are the Malay masses, which were his
original power base; and there was no racial tension in spite of Mahathir's
strenuous efforts to create one.
History will not repeat itself for Mahathir. The blatant abuse of ISA is a
flagrant violation of our Constitution and an unforgivable assault to common
decency. It has affronted the conscience of the entire Nation, and further
consolidated the unity of the Opposition front. Not even Mahathir's close
associates and hardcore supporters could find their voice to join ranks with
him.
A word of advice to the Inspector General of Police. The sworn duty of the
police is to safeguard law and order and to uphold the Constitution, and not to
be a partisan player in the political arena. The police duty with respect
to a public demonstration is to ensure that the demonstration takes place
peacefully, with minimum inconvenience to the public. It is not the
business of the police to stop a peaceful demonstration from taking place,
simply because such a demonstration is politically undesirable to the ruling
partly. Worse, when the IGP collaborates with the ruling party to
persecute legitimate political dissenters in clear violation of the
Constitution, he becomes a violator of the Constitution and is accountable for
his crime in the court of law, when justice is restored to this Country.
Kim Quek