Media Conference Statement by Lim Kit Siang at
the Perak Mentri Besar's Office, Ipoh on Thursday, 18th September 2008
at 12 noon:
Call on Abdullah to make a categorical
public assurance that the ISA will not be used against Anwar Ibrahim
whether to foil "916" political change or on the preposterous ground of
being a "threat to national security and economy"
The uncharacteristically stern and harsh
allegation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
yesterday that the Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim is a threat to the national security and economy who wanted to
""destroy the country and exploit the people's trust and tarnish the
country's image abroad" had sparked speculation that the stage is being
set for a Operation Lalang 2 crackdown and Anwar's arrest under the
Internal Security Act (ISA).
All right-thinking Malaysians must deplore in the strongest terms the
veiled threat by Abdullah that Anwar would be arbitrarily and
undemocratically silenced as the allegation that Anwar is a threat to
national security and economy is a most ludicrous and preposterous one.
I have been twice detained under the ISA, once in 1969 and the second
time in 1987, becoming the guest of His Majesty's Government for a total
of 35 months – and on both occasions, I was accused of being "a threat
to national security"!
All the 16 DAP MPs and leaders detained in the 1987 Operation Lalang
dragnet under the ISA were all accused of being threats to national
security – but these are all baseless catch-all allegations just to
justify the abuse of the ISA to silence critics and dissent.
We were threats to the political security of the Barisan Nasional
leaders but it is the democratic and citizenship right of every
Malaysian to challenge the political credibility, legitimacy and
authority of the ruling government through the democratic process or we
should not claim that Malaysia practises parliamentary democracy.
Such democratic challenges do not become threats to national security
just because those in power are in fear of losing the perks of office
and power.
Anwar Ibrahim can be accused of posing a grave threat to the political
security of Abdullah and the other Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders
with his "916 sky-change" plan, but he cannot under any stretch of
imagination be accused of being a threat to national security and
economy.
Abdullah should not prop up his political life by resorting to the abuse
of the ISA which had been enacted to deal with subversion or organised
violence.
The toppling of the Barisan Nasional national government by getting the
allegiance of the majority of the 222 MPs in Parliament to support a
Pakatan Rakyat federal government is neither "subversion" nor "organised
violence" intended in the Preamble of the ISA enacted 48 years ago in
1960.
In fact, the toppling of the government-of-the-day is part and parcel of
the democratic process if the government-of-the-day loses support of the
majority of the elected MPs, resulting in a change of government.
In first-word Parliaments and developed nations, change of government
resulting from the withdrawal of support by the majority of MPs is a
common occurrence, which is accepted and transacted without any threat
of chaos or disorder with all political leaders participating peacefully
in an orderly transition of power.
Malaysia is experiencing the possible change of federal government for
the first time in the nation's 51-year history, as this has never
happened in Malays before.
This does not mean that any change of federal power should not be
conducted in a democratic, orderly and peaceful manner.
Since he became Prime Minister, Abdullah has been talking about his
dream of Malaysia shedding its "First-World Infrastructure, Third-World
Mentality" malaise to join the ranks of first-world developed nations.
Malaysia is presently undergoing a critical test whether the nation can
become a first-world developed nation where democratic change of
government at the national level is accepted as an integral part of the
democratic process as in developed countries in the West.
This is why Abdullah should make a public statement that if the Barisan
Nasional government loses majority support and Anwar can get the support
of the majority of the 222 MPs, he will gracefully, orderly, peacefully
and democratically effect a transition of power for a new federal
government to come into being.
This is also why Abdullah should make a categorical public assurance
that the ISA will not be used to silence and arrest Anwar whether to
foil the "916 sky-change" plan to replace the Barisan Nasional
government with a new Pakatan Rakyat government or on the preposterous
and baseless ground of being a "threat to national security and
economy".
*
Lim
Kit Siang, DAP
Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor
http://dapmalaysia.org