The Prime Minister Dato Sri Najib Razak announced restructuring of the Sabah Eastern Security Command (ESSCOM) today that a senior police officer DCP Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun was appointed to be ESSCOM Commander who would be in charge of intelligence, security and defence.
This shows that the Prime Minister has finally acknowledged the fundamental structural weaknesses which are already pin pointed by the Memorandum “Keselamatan Sabah Timur Tanggungjawab Siapa?” submitted by Pakatan Rakyat on 11 June 2014.
The appointment of a senior police officer to head three special divisions of intelligence, security and defence as well as operations proves that the Eastern Sabah security is an internal security issue as stated in the Memorandum.
However, the appointment of Abdul Rashid Harun does not solve the weaknesses lie in the Preservation of Public Security Regulations 2013 and its amendment. Other than police force, can he command and control defence, maritime and other enforcement forces?
That’s why a parliamentary select committee should be formed to oversee the whole matter and to make recommendations and take remedial measures to resolve this problem.
The imbalanced deployment of Armed Forces and Police in Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak is another problem. In the era of counter insurgency, Peninsular Malaysia was the main battlegroud where most of the police and military personnel and assets were deployed. The end of the armed communist threat shall lead to a revision of this strategy.
An analysis shows that police and military deployment in the Peninsula accounts for 70% while Sabah/Sarawak account for 30%. This is also why troops from the Peninsula are sent to Sabah to reinforce the security strength. For example 21st Royal Malay Regiment based in Pengkalan Chepa, Perak, was sent to Sabah last year to reinforce the Ops Daulat.
Recognizing the imbalance in the police and military deployment, it is timely to revisit the national threat perceptions and revise the stragegy to adopt a rebalancing approach, i.e. 50% forces in Peninsula and 50% forces in Sabah and Sarawak. The parliamentary select committee can pick up the task.
The occurrence of Lahad Datu Tragedy and series of abduction cases prove the complete failure of intelligence collecting capability. It is no more a secret that our security forces infiltrated by foreigners. Information about the operations and deployment have been leaked to potential kidnapping or terrorist groups.
A Special Branch officer Hassan HJ Ali Basari was convicted in August last year related to Lahad Datu Tragedy and two Navy personnel were arrested recently because of potential involvement in illegal military activities in South Philippines.
However, the Special Branch of Police is still maintaining cold war mind set. As stated in every year budget document, monitoring communist threat is one of the fundamental roles of Special Branch. In addition, Special Branch has put a lot of efforts in monitoring opposition movement and leaders.
If the efforts can be diverted to prevention of crime and counter terrorism, nationwide security will be improved tremendously.
As suggested in the Memorandum, the core business of Special Branch should be reviewed. The Special Branch must be rebranded or replaced by a new intelligence unit like Criminal Intelligence Bureau so as to concentrate on collecting criminal and national security related information rather than embarking on collecting political information.
Despite the Prime Minister has taken the very first step, it is not too late for the Najib’s administration to learn more constructive suggestions from the Memorandum to improve the Eastern Sabah security situation.