Just days old, Najib's ISA repeals plan has hit a snag

Barely a week has passed, but already there are signs that Prime Minister Najib Razak's sudden and surprise proposal to repeal the Internal Security Act and Emergency Laws has hit a snag.

Unless Umno, the boss in the ruling BN coalition, gets its act together, the repeals will not happen at the next Parliament sitting due to begin in early October. What more the replacement new laws for the repealed Acts, which need drafting and scrutiny before Parliaments passes them.

According to de-facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz, the paper for the new legislation can only be tabled when the Parliament convenes in March 2012. But Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has refuted Nazri, claiming that the two new Acts replacing the ISA and its sister Emergency laws can be be tabled before year end. As for Malay rights champion Ibrahim Ali, he has ominously announced that unless the new law had the "spirit of the ISA" in them, he and his Perkasa group will stage protests.

Contradictory statements from these men are an ominous sign for Najib’s reforms. Nazri is Najib's spokesman, while Muhyiddin is positioning himself to wrest the Umno presidency from Najib. Ibrahim Ali is aligned to former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who supports Muhyiddin.

Only keen on 1st leg of repeals plan

Najib is keen to grab the glory for repealing the ISA, which will go down as his legacy in the event that he is booted out soon. It is also a mark of his lack of confidence to be able to stave off his party mates, who have already begun fighting for his seat.

But Najib is only interested in the first leg of his own 'reform plan'. Until the general election is safely over, he wants nothing to do with the second leg, which involves introducing new laws, which could end up even tougher than the ISA and further erode his popularity and weak image.

If Najib is still in power after GE-13, then he will naturally take on the task, but if he has been booted out by Muhyddin - then why should he bother? This is his line of thinking. So, it looks like Thursday grand announcement will prove to be another empty shell. For the hapless Najib and his bumbling team of advisers, led by media and oil operative Omar Mustapa, it was another glitzy announcement made without any clear implementation mechanism in place. All show but no go.

As pundits have pointed out, it is prudent to be sceptical given Najib's past record of caving in to Umno at the sign of any fightback by his colleagues. His lack of political will was responsible for the shelving of his New Economic Model. Brave in making his announcement but destined to fizzle out.

Najib better than Badawi?

Back in 2008, Malaysians saw a similar pattern with another weak leader. Najib’s predecessor Abdullah Badawi left behind a hastily reformed Anti Corruption Agency re-branded into the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, which to date has become more corrupt than those that they are to prosecute.

Abdullah's legacy turned out to be a shell of an idea, mere rhetoric to combat corruption but with no effective mechanism to do the task. It was merely lip-service to the people of Malaysia but remains a pillow to protect Umno and BN interests. It is the MACC that is protecting the corruption within Najib’s administration.

For instance, investigations into kickbacks for military hardware purchased during Najib’s term as defence minister are not being investigated by MACC. Instead it is the French authorities who are digging out the dirt on the deal, and not the MACC which continues to close an eye to corruption complaints against Najib and wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Can Najib be expected to improve on Badawi's record? Many Malaysians do not think so. They point to the country's poor human rights track record, which is a global stigma that has worsened since Najib took office.

Turning against his own people - the blot that Najib wants to erase?

The World Justice Project - Rule of Law index places Malaysia 11th out of 13 for its Fundamental Rights score. Under the Securitiy and Fundamental Rights graph, Malaysia scores are weakest for Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Freedom of Belief and Religion, Arbitrary Interference of Privacy and Freedom of Assembly and Association.

The ISA and Emergency Ordinance Act 1963 are among the reasons why Malaysia’s standing on the global scene especially with regards to human rights is low. “Nearly two years after Malaysian Prime Minister Seri Najib Tun Razak assumed office pledging to "uphold civil liberties," there has been only limited progress. Promised amendments to the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other laws permitting preventive detention have not been enacted. Restrictions on freedom of expression continue to be used to limit the right of government critics to express their views. Local police chiefs continue to restrict public assemblies and processions, often on political grounds.”

Malaysia is also ranked 143 out of 196 countries worldwide according to the Freedom of the Press Survey 2011 (Freedom House) released on World Press Freedom Day today. This ranking shows there is little or no freedom of the press in Malaysia. Global watchers and critics too have chided the prime minister on his mis-handling of Bersih 2.0. The use of a systematic demonization program to discredit Bersih and the intentional use of force to crack-down on peaceful marchers is the legacy Najib is remembered for.

The sudden decannouncement to abolish ISA and various other preventive detention laws is merely a step to remove this blot off his sheet. Yet, Najib will always be remembered as the premier who turned against his own people. Sad to sad, amongst Malaysians in the country and the diaspora abroad, imprinted in their minds is the image of a 'banana-republic' despot who banned people from wearing yellow T-shirts just to stop a peaceful march for free and fair elections.

And this is the legacy Najib hopes to erase. Using clumsily overdone public relations and a televised address, Najib tried to remove the stink of human rights violation from his record.

Umno hardliners seething and will retaliate

However, the latest move may backfire as have many of his other plans. The feedback from the UMNO camp is one to watch for in the coming days. It must be noted that the biggest supporters of ISA have come from the UMNO-BN camp. In fact, Umno hardliners were the main supporters of this oppressive Act.

As an immediate reaction, they may have to smile, grin and bear it because their president proposed it for his personal glorification. But that doesn't mean they will let sleeping dogs lie. Oh no, not Umno!

- Malaysia Chronicle