malaysiakini: Why the gov't is paranoid... by KJ John

Why the gov't is paranoid

KJ John
Aug 2, 11
11:12am

I always believed paranoia was the sickness of weak and fearful people, or those who have just cause for abject fear. For example, after 9/11, the Americans were absolutely overcome with paranoia only because such an unfortunate incident was “not in their paradigm of possibilities; worse still, probabilities!” Therefore, I could tolerate, accept and appreciate their paranoia as they did three 100 percent complete checks on me within the same airport in November 2001.

But, why is the government of Malaysia also paranoid these days? First we ban “an avowedly peaceful rally to ask for clean and fair elections”. Nonetheless, it then became the best example of a peaceful rally of ordinary Malaysians reflecting the 1Malaysia syndrome; except for police disturbance.

But the police did it in order to achieve their agenda of 'self-fulfilling their concept of a ban'. 

Thereby they created chaos for Malaysians in the capital city by artificially creating a chock-a-bloc situation with their arbitrary and disingenuous road checks. They were a self-fulfilling prophecy; demonstrating their power and authority but nothing else.

Then they banned 91 individuals from entering certain KL geographic areas but were using the 2007 list of names and participants of Bersih 1.0. Finally they ban yellow T-shirts as 'potential weapons of mass danger', and arrest innocent citizens for wearing such yellow T-shirts.

Earlier, they created the fear of “enemies of state” trying to establish a Christian state (can someone tell me what that means anyway), believing a blogger. Now, even the peaceful, erudite and eloquent but activist Islamic scholar Dr Asri Zainul Abidin is considered a national threat. Ambiga Sreenevasan was declared a Hindu nationalist threat.

Just a month ago, the PSM 6 were legally detained under the Emergency Ordinance for allegedly being a “communist threat to the nation”. But suddenly, they are no longer a threat but the police do not apologise for their mistake. Can someone please explain all this fear?

Why all this scheming and planning to create an “apparent air of chaos” in a country now being declared as one of the most peaceful in the world. Please remember also that the police found an arsenal of weapons, perfectly colour-coordinated and brand-new weapons of war, and 'petrol bombs in plastic bottles', all said to be part and parcel of the Bersih 2.0 arsenal. Presumably, all China-made and distributed.

Justifying the next 'national emergency'?

Let me take a guess. Maybe all this is to justify the making of the next “national emergency” and the requisite ISA detentions. Maybe they are strategic moves from the playbook of Operation Lallang now being readied.

I even see signs of the mainstream media being linked “to a Hitler-like propaganda programme of misleading the nation about what is public interest”.

All these manoeuvrings are developed within modern institutions of democracy; whether it is called the Election Commission, or the Media Council, or even the National Professors Council. It is therefore simply most appropriate that all mainstream media professionals stayed clear from the so-called Media Council recently. As Prof AB Shamsul rightly said recently, there is something “really rotten with our state of democracy”.

The last I heard anything about any Media Council was when Zaid Ibrahim was de facto Law Minister. But not only did the current so-called Media Council meet behind closed doors, what was even more astounding is that the Internet or alternative media was excluded but nevertheless represented by another “crony”, the so-called Blog House.

The original and genuine Bloggers group was called Bloggers' United Malaysia or BUM. 

I attended one of their annual conferences and argued why the media was the 5th estate and not the fourth. I had argued that traditionally and always the fourth estate was the public service and this needed to be understood, appreciated, and recognised correctly by all concerned.

The media then becomes the fifth estate and has an equal role to keep the rest of the governance system under check and balance. I have always called the community of ordinary citizens as the sixth estate of good governance. Global institutions of good governance become the 7th estate.

Therefore I find it humorous that the secretary-general of the Information Ministry, a fourth estate representative, is appointed by a government minister to lead and set up this important and needed self-surveillance group of the media professionals. But he is not a media professional.

This move establishes and confirms my thesis that the public service must become the fourth estate; not an extension of intentions of the executive. The current non-existent fourth estate has become too blindly compliant to the executive agenda.

Serving with professionalism and neutrality

Originally and always, in the British tradition of parliamentary democracy, the public service could serve any government in power with true professionalism and neutrality. After half a century of Malayanisation (actually, to be accurate we must call this 'Melayuisation'), we have lost this culture of neutrality and professionalism.

Today, it is a rather blind compliance culture under the rubric of “saya yang menurut perintah;” meaning 'perintah of the menteri,' and not that of the Agong, or even in the public interest.

Therefore, the Agong meeting Bersih representatives in a public audience and requesting them to meet in a stadium was a breakthrough of professional neutrality. But, the resultant and subsequent non-compliance is an abject and total disregard for the institution of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong by the government of the day; whether the executive or the public services.

It takes a neutral fourth estate to take orders only from the Agong, when the government of the day has some variant political ideas about the nature of good governance and the public interest.

So, my advice to the executive in Malaysia... please do not become paranoid. The Good Lord decides who rules Malaysia come the next general election, and please remember the whole world is also watching. What is free or not free or not fair will ultimately be decided by the people of Malaysia.

Gerrymandering can only help up to a certain point. If the swing is so severe, as had happened and almost happened in 1969 and again in 1999, the possibility of regime change is very real.

Nonetheless, in this day and age, the use of unfair and unethical means of “rule by law” will not sustain any system that has been constitutionally governed under the rule of law principle. Please read Ambiga's acceptance speech on receiving an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Exeter, Britain and you will understand my sentiments on this issue. May God bless Malaysia.

KJ JOHN was in public service for 29 years. He is now dean of the Faculty of Economics and Policy Science at UCSI University, Malaysia. The views expressed here are personal views of the writer and not those of the university or any other institution he is involved with. Please write to the columnist atkjjohn@ohmsi.net, if you have any feedback or views.

TMI: Is Bersih the death knell of tyranny — by N H Chan

Is Bersih the death knell of tyranny — N H Chan

July 20, 2011

JULY 20 — The picture on the front page of the Sunday Star, 10 July 2011 spoke louder than words. It showed the huge crowd of peaceful but bold Bersih supporters flying in the face of the cowardly might of the police who were decked out in full riot paraphernalia.

They must be daunted by the sea of placid, mostly young, people facing them. Those in the front rows were seated on the road and those at the back were standing. All were unarmed and none were menacing the police.

They were all peaceful demonstrators who were trying to put across to the imbeciles in power the people’s right to peaceful assembly and to show that they were united in their call for a clean and incorrupt general election.

The BN regime may say anything they like but the fact that the common people could come out in large numbers in silent protest only goes to show that the regime has lost its credibility. The regime and its underlings the police behaved as expected of tyrants – typical of all bullies they were afraid of their own shadow – they saw the ghosts of the insurgency of Chin Peng and the CPM (Communist Party of Malaya) being revived; see the Sun of Friday, July 8, 2011 where the former Perak chief police officer and Special Branch commander Yuen Yet Leng gave his thoughts to Maria J. Das in an interview. He said:

If you are going to sport a picture of Chin Peng on your t-shirt, you are only asking for trouble. How do you expect the police not to take action?

I agree with what the Special Branch had done. This problem has been thrown in the police’s lap and involves national security and public order.

The CPM has the same ideology as … Mao Zedong who believed that the highest form of struggle is an armed struggle, and not a political struggle.

He must be joking! I am astounded by the man’s naivety. I think he is still living in the past which is a pity for one of our country’s heroes (but then I also have the same problem, I could remember the past vividly but I could not remember what I said or promised yesterday).

He was the CPO Perak when I was a Judicial Commissioner in Ipoh back then in 1970. He was one policeman I have admired for his dedication to make Ipoh safe from criminals. He brought down the crime rate in Ipoh. I remember the occasion when he told me that at a police road block at Simpang Pulai which is on the outskirts of Ipoh, the police had arrested the occupants of a car when they found weapons for committing armed robbery hidden in its boot. On interrogation they admitted they were en route to Penang because it was perilous for them to commit the crime in Ipoh as there was a fierce Chinese judge there.

To be fair I must also point out that Mr Yuen was supportive of the reason for the people’s negative perception of the police. For example:

Das: … many people question why the police seem to act against only certain parties, while others who make seditious comments and threats get away. Won’t the public equate this with police persecution?

Yes and no. The police usually back the effort of the incumbent government of the day so long as it acts by the rule of law, but they need to be more courageous to act when supporters of the government go too far. When they are hesitant, they are bound to be accused of being unfair. Being balanced will earn the police some respect.

He also said:

… there is nothing wrong with Bersih 2’s demands and the incumbent government must hear the genuine worries of the people. They need to pry things apart and deal with people who are sincere with their concerns. Then legitimate complaints can be looked into.  … the timing is such that there appears to be a united front against the government, and this frightens them.

Returning to the hullabaloo of the police on the involvement of national security and public order, don’t they know, as all of us already know, that communism as an ideology had collapsed with the fall of the Berlin wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union?

There is no more threat from any idea of communist expansionism from Chinese communists as China has turn to capitalism and has prospered as the world’s second largest economy next to America. It is true that China is still being governed by an oligarchic regime.

One must be a member of the communist party to form the government because it is the ruling party as China is a one party totalitarian state, just as Malaysia has also become an oligarchy with the Umno led Barisan Nasional remaining in power for some 54 years. To say that this country is a democracy is laughable. Democracy has become an anachronism in Malaysia.

As in China the ruling BN coalition will not tolerate dissent in any form as the Bersih episode on 9 July 2011 had graphically exposed to us common folk that the police have used excessive physical force to quell the rally of peaceful protestors who were only asking for the reformation of the electoral system to a fairer and incorrupt one – so that when the crowd was heard to have shouted “reformasi” it did not mean that they were for the opposition party PKR.

We have read about police brutality against peaceful demonstrators from eyewitnesses account in loyarburok and in Malaysiakini and we also see them in graphic detail as the incidents of the use of excessive force by the police on the hapless protestors were recorded live on mobile phones by those who were there for all the world to see on Youtube.

Yet in the Star, Monday 18 July 2011, the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin said that what had emerged through the alternative media and YouTube were scenes that seem to show the police had acted in a cruel manner.

“What was not shown were prior scenes where the police were provoked and taunted”, he said.

Obviously the deputy prime minister has never heard of the well known proverb, ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words can never hurt me’. In any case, a policeman should be patient and tolerant when conducting crowd control.

They should try to defuse the anger instead of being short tempered and responding with unequal force. However, I think the negative public perception of the police in this respect will be difficult to erase.

In any case, one notices the glaring difference in the integrity of the government in the UK and ours. In the hacking scandal involving the News of the World and the London police we do not see the prime minister or the home minister or any minister coming out to defend the police. Instead they were embarrassed and concerned so much so that an emergency session of parliament was called. Even Britain’s police chief had to resign.

On the other hand, in Malaysia, we have the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin coming out in defence of the police when in fact he should be concerned and should suggest an investigation into the heavy handed conduct of the police in handling the crowd. In this country we throw integrity to the wind! Even our police chief did not resign – the fact that in some areas the police had responded and reacted with unequal force should have made him responsible as a commander.

The police have justified their hash crackdown on the peaceful demonstrators of Bersih for the reason of national security and public order. But as I have explained above any prospect of a revival of a communist insurgency in this country is a myth. To say that the CPM has the same ideology as Mao Zedong (whose idealogy should have died with him) who believed that the highest form of struggle is an armed struggle and, therefore, there is every danger of an armed insurrection being revived in this country is an unjustifiable assumption in this day and age.

Only imbeciles could have imagined that! That is why I say these people are afraid of their own shadow. If you are afraid of your own shadow then you must be a coward. You are also a coward, if not a madman, if you donned your suit of armour like Don Quixote who battled imaginary dragons in the form of windmills or riot gear ready to do battle with unarmed and peaceful street protestors to quell a whimsical or imaginary insurrection in the farcical interest of national security and public order.

To be fair, it is reported in the Star, Wednesday 13 July 2011 under the headline No plans to hold another Bersih that the Bar Council has said something nice about some policemen:

The Bar Council thanked Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar for allowing the council’s monitoring teams to observe the rally and for acknowledging the council’s impartiality in conducting the observation exercise.

“Many of our monitors noted a significant number of police officers were polite towards the leaders of the public rallies, participants and the monitoring team,” council president Lim Chee Wee said …

However, the council said unnecessary physical force was used in some instances.

I suppose not all policemen are the bad guys. There are some decent ones still around. Just as there are some decent Umno guys around like the chief of Umno Youth Khairy Jamaluddin who has shown magnanimity to Ambiga. When we leave matters to the younger generation we do not find animosity and recrimination. They are prepared to talk and discuss on how the country’s electoral system could be reformed. Bravo and I salute them.

Next, there is this pithy assessment from the Star, Thursday 14 July 2011 by Baradan Kuppusamy:

Awakening the young voters

The Bersih 2.0 rally was a success by some measure because Pakatan Rakyat supporters braved police restrictions, roadblocks and barbed wire to gather in the city centre calling on the Government to institute electoral reform.

There eight-point demand included issues that the opposition had been campaigning on for many years, like a clean electoral roll, reforming postal voting and a minimum of 21 days campaigning.

These are fundamentals of a basic election system in a democratic society and few citizens would find these objectionable.

Saturday’s rally, therefore, had an unprecedented impact on society at large and on the election system

While Saturday’s rally was smaller in size compared to Bersih’s first rally in November 2007, the effects were the same – the awakening of young people to political action to rally for a basic right in defiance of the police.

The rally proved its point that a large number of Malaysians can gather, despite police action, and march peacefully.

The message of Bersih is unequivocal, the people, especially the young people, of this country have been awakened and are no longer afraid of being intimidated by a bullying police force and they will take political action to rally for their basic rights in defiance of the police who they know are the minions of the avaricious people who are greedy for power. For after all, the awakened young people are only exercising their universal right of assembly that has been endorsed by the United Nations as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says that “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association”.

For after all the Bersih demands are not outrageous nor are they extravagant or unusual – most are matters that the opposition has been canvassing in Parliament perennially. As the writer of the above article has said, “These are fundamentals of a basic election system in a democratic society and few citizens would find these objectionable”.

Yet the Bersih movement and those who support them are being suppressed by those people who are clinging on to power and their minions the police force. Decent and normally law abiding citizens are suppressed just for voicing out their grouses for electoral reforms. The answer is plain for all to see. When we, the people, see our elected representatives failed us in Parliament; when our grouses or grievances have fallen on deaf ears in Parliament where the majority is the errant BN coalition which has been clinging on to power for more than half a century; when all else failed in the legislative process, the common people of this country have no other choice but to resort to political action of their own and the only avenue that is available which can carry their massage across most effectively is to rally for their cause even to the extent of open defiance of police action against them.

Strange as it may seem, the powers that be seemed to have missed the point. The point is that the Bersih movement does not belong to or support the opposition or any political party. It is an apolitical movement. But it supports democracy which is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. When a government does not listen to the people’s grouses and does not take action on them then it is not a government for the people. And a government which is not for the people is not a democratic government, it is a dictatorship.

The message of Bersih, which is in fact the people’s message, is loud and clear – we, the people of this country, do not want a dictatorship! Since we do not want a dictatorship, at the next general election we will vote the dictators out of office and replace them with a new coalition even to the extent of voting in the opposition. And if the new order were to fail the people too, then we will replace them at another election. And finally if any of our political parties were still to fail us again then, as a last resort, we may have to vote only for individuals who are for the people and who are incorruptible. There must be plenty of suitable candidates to choose from for our representation in Parliament from the Bersih movement itself. Like Ambiga I do not have the stomach for politics in this country. There are much braver souls around.

Having said all that, one may still ask, what is the point then for a street demonstration albeit a peaceful one? The point is to bring out the people’s dissatisfaction and their grouse for a clean and incorrupt government. The multitude’s belief is that the only way to attain their goal is for a clean and incorrupt forthcoming general election. And when that had fallen on deaf ears the only avenue left for the people to voice their discontent is to rally in an orderly and peaceful demonstration like the Bersih walk to Stadium Merdeka although they never made it there as they were blocked by the police.

Now that you know what is at stake, my dear readers, you can go straight to Loyarburok.com to read about how the police have used excessive force on the peaceful demonstrators. In particular, do read this article “Ambushed like Animals, I Had to Walk-Crawl”. Here is an excerpt:

There was no sense of danger because the police had so far let us go ahead. Sure, we all knew that eventually they would arrest the BERSIH and political leaders but we had no clue of how inhumane it was going to be.

When we found ourselves manoeuvred into the tunnel, we started running as fast as we could.

Even if we had never imagined that we would be tear-gassed in the tunnel, there was that imminent danger.

I was in the middle of the crowd when I reached the end of the tunnel, relieved to be out of the ominous place. But by then, there was screaming because the FRU had started shooting tear gas straight towards at us. I saw it with my own eyes, the FRU was aiming directly at the people, and not over our heads.

The message was clear to me: to hurt and maim as many as possible, even though these were peaceful demonstrators, many of whom are respected political leaders of our country. It was only after that I had heard that Anwar Ibrahim and his bodyguard were badly hurt for being shot at, along with another PAS politician who was in front of the crowd.

After reading this you should also read the other articles about the Bersih rally in loyarburok.

After you have read all those articles in loyarburok, do you want to support Bersih? We should not be afraid of threats and coercion anymore. Bersih is not a society or association or club. There is no subscription or membership. You don’t have to join it. It is a movement and whenever there is an outcry by the people we can show our support for the movement by voting out the incumbent government of the day at the next election.

We have the power of the people. You don’t have to be loyal to any political party. Always be ready to tell those in government that they are our servants who should serve the people.

We, the people, have put them there and we the people can remove them in the next election. Any government must be for the people. It is not to be a government for those in authority or in power. That kind of attitude among those who governed us will no longer be tolerated by the people who had put them there in the first place. Shortly stated, we do not want a dictatorship at all. It is democracy that the people want and that means the government must always be for the people.

A government for the people does not incarcerate its citizens without a trial or on trump up charges or use draconian laws to terrorize and overawe its citizens or to stifle dissent. A government for the people are not intolerant of the people’s grouses. A government for the people does not shoot tear gas cylinders directly at peaceful demonstrators nor would it use physical force on them — they should not copy the violent methods used by the dictators of the Middle East on their own people. I could go on and on. But I think you have got the picture.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

malaysiakini: Release PSM political detainees immediately.... b S. Arutchelvan

Release PSM political detainees immediately

S.Arutchelvan
Jul 6, 11
4:44pm

Stop the charade and release the remaining six PSM political detainees immediately.

The six PSM leaders are now being detained without trial under the draconian Emergency Ordinance - the Other ISA.

Till now, they have been denied access to legal representatives and family visits. We are worried for their safety and their well being.

We demand their immediate unconditional release.

The charade by the Najib administration:

• First the 30 were arrested on 25th June and remanded the following day under Section 122 of the Penal Code for the charge of waging war against the King. 

• On 26th June 2011, The Police paraded several T-shirts of former MCP leaders and PSM Newspapers as subversive elements and said PSM was trying to revive the MCP.

• On July 2nd, the end of the remand period, the police released six of the detainees including Dr Jeyakumar - PSM Member of Parliament, M Saraswathy - Party's National Deputy Chairperson , Choo Chon Kai - Central Committee Member and three others from all charges under Section 122 but they were immediately rearrested under the draconian Emergency ordinance.

• The six were initially given family notification letters which stated that they have been arrested under the EO to prevent them from participating in the July 9 Bersih rally. This was replaced later by another which stated that they have been arrested under the EO to maintain public order. In the media, the Deputy IGP said that those arrested under EO were subversives with links to foreign elements. The script kept changing.

• For the remaining 24, the police asked another seven days extension under the same Section 122 - 'waging war against the King' in spite of key leaders of PSM been cleared from the same allegation a few hours before that. The police requested seven days stating that they have a list of things to do including holding an ID parade. The court gave them another three days.

• But in the three days, there was no ID parade or any other investigation. Those detained were just languishing in their lock-ups.

• On July 4th 2011, at 4pm - when the banks were be closing(making bail processing impossible) , the 24 were charged now NOT under 122 but under Section 48 and Section 43 of the Societies Act; and section Section 29 (1) of the Internal Security Act for being in possession of subversive documents.

Bail was set at RM8,000 each which means RM192,000 in total.

In the charge sheet, it is stated that the illegal organisation is Bersih though the PSM campaign ended on June 26 before Bersih was banned by the home minister while the subversive documents were leaflets on Bersih's eight demands.

Now these 24 are not charged for the PSM "Udahlah Bersaralah" leaflet nor were they charged for having possession of T-shirts of MCP leaders and other T-shirts.

Udahlah...end the charade now.

PSM would also like to categorically state that PSM will not compromise on the release of the six for supporting the Bersih rally on the 9th.

The rally is the right of the rakyat in a democratic society to exercise their freedom of assembly and expression.

PSM calls upon the immediate and unconditional release of the EO Six.

Their continued detention is a violation at the highest level by a corrupt and cowardly government.

S.Arutchelvan is PSM Secretary General.

TMI: Malaysia: A police state — by Tommy Thomas

Malaysia: A police state — Tommy Thomas

TMI: July 06, 2011

JULY 6 — Death Threats. Bomb Threats. Warning on Revocation of Citizenship. Preventive detention.  Arrest of hundreds for wearing Yellow T-Shirts. Banning of Organisations. Prohibition of Peaceful Marches.

Is one describing Burma? Or Zimbabwe? No: this is Malaysia in July 2011, in its 54th year of independence.

Has paranoia gripped the decision-making elite in Kuala Lumpur? But for its grave repercussions, one would have to laugh at the disproportionate overreaction and incompetence of government agencies in recent weeks.

Has Malaysia become a police state, with no place for the Rule of Law? So what is the problem that has attracted the ugly, heavy hand of the Executive.

It is only a call by ordinary voices for electoral reform so that future elections are conducted freely and fairly, that is, on a level playing field, with no political party or candidate having an in-built advantage over its rival parties and candidates, very much, like all runners in a 100 metres race starting at the same point with the same distance to run.

Is that not a laudable objective that should receive the support of everyone who truly believes in the democratic process?

When Malaya achieved Merdeka in 1957, it chose the parliamentary democracy style of government under a constitutional monarchy, with the Federal Constitution as the supreme law. In order to elect a government, general elections are to be held at least one in every 5 years under the supervision of what was intended to be an independent, impartial Elections Commission to act as a neutral referee or umpire in electoral contests.

In the actual conduct of general and bye-elections since 1957, the Election Commission has failed miserably, with the result that no right thinking person would describe it as being fair or neutral in the discharge of its duties. The actions of governmental agencies such as widespread gerrymandering of constituencies, the total domination by one political party of television, radio and print media, a brief campaign period of between seven to 10 days, the blatant granting of gifts, money and other benefits to voters, other corrupt electoral practices and the abuse of postal ballots have resulted in the ruling coalition having a tremendously unfair advantage whenever elections are held.

Accordingly, by any yardstick, elections have never been conducted in Malaysia in a fair and free manner, consistent with the spirit of true parliamentary democracy.

It is against this background that Bersih, a coalition of organisations interested in electoral reform, announced its decision to organise a peaceful march in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 9th July 2011 to call public attention to the ills of the electoral system, and to present a memorandum to His Majesty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Is the Government seriously contending that as a sovereign nation which has enjoyed over 5 decades of independence, Malaysia cannot tolerate or survive the exercise by thousands of its citizens of their entrenched fundamental liberties of free speech, assembly and association on a Saturday morning!

It must be recalled that in the 12-year sunset period of British imperialism over Malaya from 1945 to 1957, the British colonial rulers permitted the holding of public rallies which were brilliantly exploited, first by Umno in 1946 in leading the opposition to the Malayan Union proposal, and subsequently by the Alliance coalition from 1954 to 1957 in its campaign for Merdeka.

Bearing in mind that those rallies, marches, demonstrations and assemblies were held during the Emergency declared to fight the Communist insurrection, and would result in the ending of colonial rule, the British Government did not ban such rallies, even if it was in its self-interest to do so. For Merdeka to be meaningful, surely every Malaysian must enjoy greater and better rights in independent Malaysia in 2011 than his or her forefather enjoyed under colonial rule in 1946!

Demonising Bersih and its outstanding leader of courage and conviction, Ambiga Sreenevasan brings great discredit to the Government. It smacks of a witchunt, McCarthy style. For the Prime Minister to describe Ambiga Sreenevasan as being anti-Islam shows his true commitment to his own 1Malaysia philosophy — it is just window-dressing!!

I know of no law in Malaysia which prohibits a person from wearing yellow clothes.  Thus, there is no Colours Act or Clothes Act under our law which empowers the police from arresting persons because of the choice of garment colour.  Even totalitarian North Korea does not act in such a high-handed, mean and petty way.

When the streets of Kuala Lumpur are no longer safe with the massive increase of crime, and an apparent breakdown of law and order, the police are allocating their resources to preventing ordinary law-abiding Malaysians from exercising their constitutional rights of free speech, assembly and association.

Compounding its mishandling of the entire situation was the abdication by the elected Government of resolving the problem, apart from a crude outright ban against Bersih.

For His Majesty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, as constitutional monarch, to enter the political fray — probably unprecedented in 54 years — is an indictment of poor governance by the Najib administration.  The Prime Minister is elected to lead: what has been displayed hitherto has been dithering leadership reminiscent of the Badawi administration.

The fascist elements of the state, whose main aim in life seems to be to protect and serve the interests of the ruling party, must be reminded that Malaysia does not belong to the Prime Minister. Neither does the nation belong to the political party that happened to win the most seats in the last Parliamentary election in March 2008 thereby forming the government of the day.

Just as the electorate gave it a mandate to rule temporarily, it can withdraw that mandate at the next general elections which must, by law, be called by mid-2013. No political party has a divine right to rule continuously.  Malaysia, on the contrary, belongs to the people, whose interests may often not coincide with that of the ruling party.

Not allowing the people of Malaysia to express their opinion on a matter of vital public interest, viz, the electoral system, by assembling peacefully in Kuala Lumpur is wholly unacceptable. It is neither right nor proper.

The behaviour of our leaders indicate that they are desperate to hold on to power by all means, and every measure must be taken by the state to prevent what they perceive as a threat to their own position. It is an iron law of history that besieged, desperate leaders who believe they are indispensible or identify themselves with their countries ultimately lose power: it is always only a matter of time.

I urge my fellow Malaysians to attend the rally on Saturday in droves, and to behave in a peaceful, civilized manner with a single-minded focus on calling for a reform of the badly marred electoral system so structured in favour of one party.

Malaysians must, with pride and dignity, exercise their fundamental rights of free speech, association and assembly on 9th July 2011 so that the executive branch of government can be shown to have totally underestimated the good sense of the people. The shameful conduct of Malaysian politicians and bureaucrats in the past weeks must be wiped clean by the actions of the citizenry on Saturday.

See you there.

* Tommy Thomas is a senior lawyer in the Malaysian Bar.