Democracy movements face tests
Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily
Whenever lawyers march in protest to fight for democracy and freedom, it reflects something is wrong in the judiciary.
The Bar Council had so far organised four marching protests. The first was held in 1981 to protest against amendments to the Society Act 1966, which restricted non-governmental organisations from conducting political activities while empowering the authorities to declare illegal on any organisations.
The second protest was staged in September 2007 to seek the setting up of a Royal Commission over the VK Lingam video clip. About 2,000 lawyers and members of public joined the Walk for Justice and marched from the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya to the Prime Minister’s Department, to present a memorandum to the Prime Minister.
The third protest was called the Walk for Freedom in 2011, to protest against the government’s Peaceful Assembly Bill. The fourth was the Walk for Peace and Freedom to urge the government honor its promise to immediately abolish the Sedition Act 1948.
The Walk for Peace and Freedom was the largest marching protest since the 2013 general election. However, people are in doubt whether it was effective in urging the government to repeal the Sedition Act.
The political situation changed after the 2013 general election. Umno faced overwhelming political pressure before the election but with the changing situation, the government’s pressure has been reduced and legal reform plans have thus shelved.
Umno is the BN government leader and if it does not feel the need for change, the demands of civil society would face great resistance,it is now the case.
The reasons why Umno shifted from moderate to conservative include the rise of right-wing forces, the split of Pakatan Rakyat, public demoralisation and the exposure of NGO’s weakness of inadequate mobilisation capacity.
The relations among the three Pakatan Rakyat component parties seem dubious, particularly after PAS chose to retake the religious path, internal conflicts have expanded, greatly reducing Umno’s pressure in the Malay community.
Among Pakatan Rakyat component parties, only PAS has the strength to compete with Umno in Malay villages. And now, PAS leaders have focused on the implementation of hudud law, talking only about the German beer festival Oktoberfest was not in line with Islamic teaching and the outbreak of Dengue Fever is a calamity that came about because the government does not fully adhere to Islamic principles, instead of being concerned about democracy issue. Umno would feel even better if more people withdraw from PAS like Tamrin Abdul Ghafar, son of former deputy prime minister Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba.
