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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