Najib to Repeal Malaysian Laws Before Vote

By Gan Yen Kuan, Bloomberg

Prime Minister Najib Razak announced Malaysia’s broadest political reforms since independence in 1957, two months after street protests that led to the arrest of more than 1,600 people.

Najib promised to scrap the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance, which permit detention without trial, to ensure that people can’t be arrested for their political affiliations. The government will also ease restrictions on the media and public assembly, he said.

“The abolition of the ISA, and the other historic changes, underline my commitment to making Malaysia a modern, progressive democracy that can be proud to take its place at the top table of international leadership,” Najib said yesterday in a speech broadcast on national television. “Many will question whether I am moving too far, too fast. There may be short-term pain for me politically, but in the long term the changes I am announcing will ensure a brighter, more prosperous future.”

Najib, 58, vowed to improve democratic freedoms before national elections that could be held as early as next year, and after a backlash against the government’s response to a July 9 rally demanding an overhaul of electoral laws. Groups such as Amnesty International condemned the use of force to detain the peaceful activists for marching on the capital in defiance of a government ban.

The prime minister’s speech was “geared toward the election,” Ong Kian Ming, a political analyst at UCSI University in Kuala Lumpur, said by telephone.

Popularity Drops

A group of more than 60 non-governmental organizations known as Bersih 2.0 planned the protests. Bersih, which has the support of opposition parties, wants electoral changes such as campaign periods of at least 21 days and the use of indelible ink on fingers to prevent people from voting more than once.

Public support for Najib slipped to 59 percent in August from 65 percent in May, according to a survey by Selangor-based Merdeka Center for Opinion Research. His popularity, which peaked at 72 percent in May 2010, has waned amid growing concerns about higher living costs and the government’s handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally, the center said on Aug. 29. The survey of 1,027 people was taken from Aug. 11-27 and didn’t give a margin of error.

Last month, Najib said the government would establish a bi- partisan parliamentary committee to review changes to electoral rules, and that authorities would also consider amending laws governing censorship of print media.

‘Positive Development’

During the July protests, Malaysia’s Home Ministry blacked out parts of an article in the Economist that called the government “overzealous” in its handling of the Bersih rally.

Najib’s pledges are a “positive development that opens up space for freedom of speech, rule of law and transparency,” said Ibrahim Suffian, a political analyst at Merdeka Center. “The proof lies in the implementation of these statements and the nature of the laws meant to replace the ISA.”

The Internal Security Act was introduced in 1960 in the wake on an armed insurgency by Communist rebels, giving the police wide-ranging powers to detain suspects indefinitely. It will be replaced by a law that incorporates more judicial oversight and limits police powers to detain people for preventive reasons, Najib said.

Opposition leaders including Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng and Karpal Singh have been held under the ISA and 37 people are now being held under the the law. The same regulation remains in neighboring Singapore, another former British colony.

No Compromise

The Emergency Ordinance, introduced in Malaysia following race riots in 1969, permits the detention of suspects for up to two years with a minister’s consent. The government used it against six opposition politicians in July.

“This will be replaced by a law that will not compromise on national security and terrorism, while increasing democratic accountability and judicial oversight,” the government said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

Media laws will be repealed so licenses, which must now be renewed annually, can remain valid indefinitely unless revoked, the government said.

While Malaysia’s constitution guarantees the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, the law has required police permission before gatherings could go ahead, including on private land such as stadiums.

“This law will now be reviewed to bring Malaysia in line with international standards, while ensuring that the police retain the right to prevent violent scenes on the nation’s streets,” according to the government statement.