Ex-IGP, ex-army chief ask relevant agencies to ensure political violence does not escalate
(The Star) – Former Chief of Army, Jeneral Tan Sri Md Hashim Hussein and former Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan have called on all relevant agencies to ensure that political violence did not escalate before and after the elections on May 5.
In a statement on Monday, they said they were concerned about the escalating violence over the past few weeks.
“These bombs, Molotov cocktails, arson, wielding of parangs and metal rods are unprecedented in Malaysian election campaigns.
“We are alarmed that the Minister of Home Affairs stated publicly that these happenings would worsen more than a month ago, in what we consider an endorsement of political violence, and that these incidents have indeed occurred.
“However, we applaud the police force, especially the Penang police force for taking swift action to pre-empt any further violence and setting up a task force to investigate the incidents,” said Hashim.
He said that, on his invitation, Musa, had agreed to join the Pakatan Rakyat Security Advisory Council.
“As people who have spent a great part of our lives protecting and serving Malaysians to ensure peace and safety in our country of ours, we wish to categorically state that political violence has no place in our democratic process.
“Elections must not only be free and fair; they must also be conducted peacefully and in an orderly manner,” he said.
He said the council aimed to assist and support this process, advise on relevant national security matters and “to resolve any arising conflicts to ensure that the transition of power is smooth, peaceful and orderly, thereby guaranteeing and promoting democratic practice.”
“We also discussed the efforts of Pakatan Rakyat to improve the armed and police forces of Malaysia, which include a RM500m allocation to the Military Veterans’ Small Entrepreneur Fund, increased funding to the Armed Forces Fund Board (AFFB) and a Soldiers’ Dividend to remunerate non-pensionable veterans.
For the police, Pakatan Rakyat aims to increase police salaries by 15% in stages, increase personnel at the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and allocate additional funds to strengthen police force capabilities. Remuneration must be equitable and fair, recognising performance and length of service, he said.
“We hereby call for urgent and immediate measures by the agencies concerned to closely monitor the situation. It is their responsibility to ensure that political violence does not escalate both before and after the elections on May 5,” he said in the statement that carried both their names.
