Another Operasi Lalang? But will what worked in 1987 work in 2010

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Another Pakatan Rakyat leader has accused Prime Minister Najib Razak of plotting a swoop similar to the BN government's 1987Operasi Lalang, pointing to the escalating racial row between Umno and MCA as the perfect “pretext” for nabbing dissidents especially from the opposition.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng followed hot on the heels of PAS’s Khalid Samad in warning colleagues and the Malaysian public of the danger of a “chilling reprise” of the 1987 dragnet, where 117 people were thrown into jail under the Internal Security Act which allows indefinite detention without trial.

First-hand experience

16 DAP leaders including himself , his father Kit Siang and party chairman Karpal Singh were among those put behind bars. The licences of four media publications – The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh, The Sunday Star and Watan – were also revoked.

At that time, MCA had locked horns with Najib, who was then the Umno Youth chief, over Chinese vernacular school rights.

“DAP leaders should not fall into the same trap that the BN set 23 years ago to use the sandiwara quarrel between MCA and Umno as an excuse to apply the ISA powers of detention without trial on the opposition,” Guan Eng said in a statement.

“Otherwise, DAP leaders will again be victimized and detained as happened in 1987, while MCA and Umno escaped unpunished. A verbal media war between MCA and Umno was then used as a pretext by the BN to initiate Operasi Lalang. However, instead of detaining Umno and MCA leaders involved, DAP, PAS and PSM leaders were detained."

PAS leaders also rounded up in 1987

His words eerily echoed those of Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who was also detained along with two other PAS leaders Mohd Sabu and Mahfuz Omar in the 1987 dragnet.

“I fear it’s an overall strategy that BN is implementing now in the run up to the next general elections and it will culminate in another Operasi Lalang. They have demonstrated once again that they are incapable of uniting the nation, behaving maturely and responsibly,” said Khalid.

Like Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, Guan Eng also accused the BN of trying to distract the public’s attention from the country’s real problems.

“As BN faces challenges of rule of law, corruption, abuse of powers and a declining economy, playing up racial sentiments is an easy way of not being accountable for their failures,” said Guan Eng.

What worked in 1987 will backfire in 2010

At a separate press conference on Wednesday, Anwar had lambasted Umno-owned Utusan for spreading lies and hatred amongst the Malays towards the minorities. Utusan had even accused Pakatan of having secretly drafted a “new” federal constitution to remove the special rights and position of the Malays.

“This is the final attempt by a dying party to use racial sentiment. If the constitution exists, they should investigate. It is their tactic to cover up corrupt practices and oppression,” Anwar said.

However, PKR chief strategist Tian Chua did not think Najib would be able to pull off another Operasi Lalang, pointing out that both Umno and MCA were no longer the parties they used to be.

"I won't discount the possibility but how is Umno going to get the Malay support on the ground? This is 2010, not 1987. Since 1998, Malay support has flowed over to PAS and later on to PKR," Tian said.

"As for MCA, do you really see any evidence of Chinese support for the party? Another key point is - there isn't any racial tension building up that is significant enough to pull off such an unpopular move. If Najib does it, it will backfire badly on him."