Press Statement

by Lim Guan Eng

(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): DAP urges PDRM to suspend Ops Warta IV with immediate effect unless laws are enforced equally even on Ministers such as As International Trade And Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz are also arrested in their homes for having unpaid traffic summons. The police have said that, “Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM) sedang menjalankan OPS Warta IV iaitu Operasi Waran Tangkap IV bermula 5/6/2006 hingga 5/8/2006. Polis akan memburu pesalah trafik dari rumah ke rumah untuk menangkap pemandu yang telah dikenakan waran tangkap oleh mahkamah.”

Such a warning is ominous and brings back dreadful memories and distressing images of police knocking on doors in the middle of the night and handcuffing confused traffic offenders carting them in police cars to be arrested. However many of those arrested were ordinary people and none of them VIPs like Ministers even though they had unpaid traffic summons, leading to questions whether the police practiced double-standards.

Such discrimination goes against Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which requires all Malaysians to be treated equally before the law. Unless Ministers are also arrested in their homes and handcuffed, the police should suspend Ops Warta IV to ensure that they do not apply the laws selectively.

Many of the traffic offenders arrested do not even know that they have been issued traffic summons like Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who did not know he had 11 summons until I exposed that on June 8. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi subsequently paid the RM1,000 in traffic summonses for speeding, traffic obstruction and parking offences for three cars with the registration plates WJB2800, WLP3142 and WCH13 under his name.. The total fines for the 11 offences - which were committed between June 29, 2002 and Aug 3, 2005 - was originally RM3,300, but this was reduced to RM1,000 after the general discount offered by the police.

There were many more VIPs who had unpaid traffic summons and I wish to highlight two of them highlighted by Malaysiakini, namely Datuk Sri Rafidah Aziz and Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman. Azalina has 28 summonses for traffic violations in the past four years ranging from 7/7/2002 to 14/4/2006 and all except two were for speeding. Azalina has outstanding fines of RM8,400, but with the generous police discount of RM 4,550 or 55%, she needs to pay only RM3,850.

As she was given the discounts even though she had not appealed, the police should also offer similar discounts to ordinary Malaysians. Azalina’s traffic offences were for five separate vehicles registered under her name namely KBC 63, WLV 3, BGK 53, WLS 3569 and WGN 761.

Rafidah had10 summonses - seven for speeding and three for parking violations - from 17/6/2003 to 13/2/2005. Her fines involved only two vehicles WDX 2299 and WGX 8899 totaling RM3,000/-. Rafidah only has to pay RM1,180 after the police discounts of RM 1,820 or 61%.

The Ministers should not be faulted for not paying the summons as they may not know they were issued with the summons. Further they may dispute the summons issued and may want to challenge them in court as every person is presumed innocent before being tried in court. However this shows how unreliable and inefficient the police computers and traffic summons system is.

Even Police Internal Security and Public Order director Mustafa Abdullah has conceded that there could be errors in their computer system which tracks traffic summonses. He admitted that some individuals may not be aware of having committed traffic offences as the summonses were not issued and sent to them saying,

“This is a common problem. Myself is an example. I didn't receive any summonses and was not aware that I’d violated any regulations, but the system had my record.”

Until the police fixes the computer errors and the problems, it is unfair for Ops Warta to continue if it victimizes innocent traffic offenders. Why should the police go knocking on the doors of ordinary citizens in public housing but not dare to do the same in the mansions of Ministers or the official residence of the Prime Minister?

(21/06/2006)