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Congratulations to Abdullah Badawi as
new Prime Minister of Malaysia
Press Statement
by Ashvin Raj
(Petaling Jaya, Friday):
DAPSY congratulates Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on him being sworn in
as the fifth Prime Minister today, taking over from Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad who has been at the helm for the past 22 years.
Malaysians would like to know what changes are in store to address the
shortcomings of 22 years of Mahathir's policies.
Mahathir has given us Vision 2020 and "Malaysia Boleh" but it must not be at
the price of pushing the country backwards in terms of democracy and human
rights and undermining the vital institutions of the state in providing the
checks and balances needed to ensure the development of a healthy democracy
and vibrant civil society in order for Malaysia to progress in every sphere
of life.
Mahathir's statement that there would be no change of policy under Abdullah
is of no surprise. However, we would urge Badawi to be his own man and come
out of the shadows of Mahathir to restore public and international
confidence in the key institutions of the state and to uphold the important
principles of accountability, transparency and the rule of law.
Badawi should know by now the defining characteristics of the premiership he
wants to project and should not cause any undue delay in announcing the
policy changes he intends to introduce to Malaysia.
Badawi has the opportunity to pick up the pieces left by Mahathir and make
Malaysia a leader in the region by promoting political and cultural
pluralism and restoring Malaysia's honour which was tarnished
internationally by the remarks made by Dr Mahathir at the recent OIC
conference accusing Jews of ruling the world by proxy, which confirms our
deepest fear - that he has been ruling our country with hatred and anger,
rather than love, kindness and racial tolerance.
Instead of trying to call for peaceful resolution and consensus between the
Israelis and Palestinians, he blatantly worsens the situation by putting the
blame on a certain race and highlighting their differences rather than
similarities as being the same human beings.
We suppose this concept of segregation and hostility is brewed from our
country's own political structure in which the BN political parties are
based on race. The continuous attention given to communal politics does not
augur well for a multiracial society seeking to create a single Malaysian
identity or a Bangsa Malaysia.
This is because, each time the political parties hold their general assemby,
their leaders call for unity among their own members and race. What is the
meaning of the word 'unity', if it does not seek to include all races of all
Malaysians?
DAPSY would also urge Badawi to ensure the independence of the judiciary,
put an end to media censorship and promote women's rights.
We also call upon Badawi to ensure freedom of association and assembly in
Malaysia and to free imprisoned former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim
to restore justice, freedom and democracy in Malaysia and thereby ensuring
international recognition and foreign investments to flow into the country.
(31/10/2003)
* Ashvin Raj, DAPSY Assistant National Publicity
Secretary
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