Mr. Masing, do you really know what the PDRM did last Saturday?

ARCHIVES 2011

By admin-s On Jul 14, 2011

No one broke the law. If anyone did, then why were the 1,667 civilians arrested by the police all released without charge?

By Being Vernon

No sooner had Mr. William Mawan anak Ikom spewed his disgraceful and uninformed comments, another Dayak leader has joined the fray to gush more tired rhetoric. This is what was reported at the Borneo Post Online.

No deal with law breakers, says Masing

KUCHING: Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing says the government cannot afford to be lenient with those who are determined to break the law.

The Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president said he could not help thinking with ‘uneasiness’ that Malaysia must be one of few countries in the world who negotiated with would-be law breakers, in obvious reference to organisers of the Bersih 2.0 gathering on July 9.

Masing said he could not hide his gratitude for the police force who managed to prevent the illegal gathering from becoming a full blown affair like the one organised by Hindraf in 2008.

First of all, no one broke the law. If anyone did, then why were the 1,667 civilians arrested by the police all released without charge? Is Mr. Masing (I refuse to acknowledge his Tan Sri-ship too) aware that the UMNO Youth Chief himself was arrested, and also released without charge?

Secondly, Bersih 2.0 as a loose umbrella of 62 NGOs is not an illegal entity despite being branded so by the Home Minister. Are the 62 NGOs grouped under Bersih 2.0 not registered societies? Does a loose coalition made up of registered organisations need to be registered again as a society? Pakatan Rayat is a loose umbrella coalition of three political parties, all of which are registered. Applying the legally strange, if not arguably flawed precedent of the Home Minister on Bersih 2.0 onto Pakatan Rakyat, does it therefore make Pakatan Rakyat illegal too? The issue of legality is therefore far from certain. It is ambiguous and has not yet been tested in court.

Thirdly, did His Majesty the Agong not consent to grant an audience to the leaders of Bersih 2.0? Granted, this royal nod does not by any stretch render the loose coalition legal, IF it was illegal in the first place to be rendered legal. Nevertheless, royal recognition carries with it certain privileges, which Najib’s government refused to acknowledge despite their noisy protestations of loyalty to the King in the past. If the King himself recognises Bersih 2.0, who is Mr. Masing to even offer his 2 sen’s worth?