Hot On The Heels Of Najib’s ‘No Guts Pakatan’, Hisham Threatens ISA

Malaysia Chronicle

As expected, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has threatened to use the Internal Security Act on participants of the three concurrent rallies due on July 9, and while he did not mention which rally, it was obvious that he was directing his comments to the largest one – the Bersih 2.0 Walk for Democracy.

The Bersih rally is organised by 62 of the country’s most established NGOs, who plan a peaceful march to deliver an 8-point memorandum to the King calling for free and fair elections.

The rally is supported by the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. However, the Najib administration is against the rally, labelling it as an opposition ploy, but has failed to provide any good reasons why citizens could not assemble peacefully when it was guaranteed under the federal constitution.

“If there is chaos, I am responsible to make sure that proper action following the law will be taken to control the situation. The ISA does not need to be used but can be used but to use the ISA, there must be reasons that really threaten the country’s security and safety,” Hisham told reporters on Sunday.

The ISA is dreaded because it allows the government to jail dissidents and political foes for indefinite periods of time without trial.

No guts? Tell it to Onn Jaffar

Hisham’s words came hot on the heels of his cousin, Prime Minister Najib Razak, who warned he would hold the Bersih organisers responsible if there was unrest.

“Do not create chaos just because you want power. If there is chaos, then you organisers will be held responsible,” Najib had said at the opening of People’s Progressive Party’s 58th Annnual General Assembly earlier on Sunday.

The PM also challenged the Pakatan to fight his BN in a general election instead of holding street demonstrations which would only cause problems.

“If you have guts, then fight us during the election and not this way by holding demonstrations. Only those with no guts will hold demonstrations,” said Najib.

But the actions of the two cousins failed to create much impact. In Najib’s own home state of Pahang on Sunday, 1,000 Kuanatan folk took part in a peaceful protest against his plan to build a rare earth plant in Gebeng.

“Hisham and UMNO are no different from the Syria or Libya tyrannical regimes. The use of the ISA to stop a peaceful assembly is unlawful and in breach of our federal constitution. This cowardly threat will not deter the people from exercising their right to peaceful assembly. I have no doubt the July 9 rally will proceed as far as Bersih is concerned,” human rights lawyer N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle.

Even DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang has poured scorn on the cousins’ hypocrisy, challenging Hisham to jail his late granddad Onn Jaffar, who played a primary role in the formation of UMNO with his anti-British and pro-Malay rights demonstrations in the 1950s.

“One of the pioneers of peaceful public rallies in Malaysia is none other than Datuk Onn Jaffar, the grandfather of the Home Minister. Would Hishammuddin have arrested his grandfather Datuk Onn Jaffar for organizing peaceful mass rallies and meetings resulting in formation of UMNO if the latter had been alive today?” Kit Siang had said in a statement on Thursday.

A joke

Indeed, given the distinguished backgrounds of the orgainising committee chaired by former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan, Najib will be hard-pressed to explain to the nation, investors and the global community why he would want to block a rally that promoted free and fair elections.

To do so would indicate that he does not wish for free and fair elections, in line with the accusations of many pundits, who say that without election fraud, it would be impossible for Najib and his UMNO party to win at the upcoming 13th general election.

Meanwhile, to warn off the people, police have begun arresting civilians who wore yellow t-shirts as that is the colour of the Bersih t-shirts. On Saturday, police also remanded 30 members of Parti Sosialis Malaysia for ‘rekindling’ Communist ideology and waging war on the King. According to the cops, the PSM members had worn t-shirts decorated with the faces of past Malaysian communist leaders such as Chin Peng, Rashid Maidin and Suriani Abdullah and this made them ‘suspicious’.

“It has become a joke. There is no way anyone is going to cancel their rally. Nonsense,” Batu MP Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

On July 9, in a bid to frazzle the Bersih rally, the Youth wing of Najib’s UMNO party and sister-organization Perkasa will also be marching. Both UMNO Youth and Perkasa marches are intended to be counter-marches to the Bersih’s but both are highly unlikely to draw many supporters.

As for the Bersih rally, a huge turnout is expected with many urban dwellers overcoming their initial fears as disgust for the ruling coalition rose.

Pakatan Rakyat, which has been quick to support the Bersih anti-election fraud platform, have also pledged to send their members. In particular, PAS president Hadi Awang has made an inspiring call, ordering all members of the Islamist party – totalling more than a million – to stand up for clean governance and attend the Bersih 2.0 on July 9.

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