MCLM: Real reforms if BN is removed

The Barisan Nasional should have been serious about socio-political change after the 12th general election, says MCLM.

KUALA LUMPUR: Real reforms are only possible if a non-Barisan Nasional government comes to power, a human rights group said.

Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) president Haris Ibrahim said that if the BN was serious about socio-political change, it would have acted in the aftermath of the 12th general election.

“If it’s BN (that stays in power), then we can kiss this (reforms) goodbye. If they had listened… they would have… done it post 12th GE,” Haris told FMT.

“In order to do that, you need to have a strong prime minister… focused on (his) … five years (as premier), who’ll say, ‘I need to do these reforms.’”

Haris also made a reference to past and present prime ministers, and alleged that they were more focused on calling for general election than on change.

He made the claim after presenting the Rakyat Reform Agenda (RARA) at an MCLM-organised forum at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night.

According to the group, the RARA covered four different points:

• the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, including Sabah’s 20-point and Sarawak’s 18-point agreements;

• restoring of independence to Malaysia’s institutions, including the judiciary;

• the repeal of local security laws, including the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Sedition Act; and

• a revamp of affirmative economic policy, reborn as the racially blind Social Inclusion Agenda.

Speaking on the last two points, Haris said that both of the factors were being prepared by MCLM-affiliated parties for the benefit of non-BN political parties in the advent of a change of government.

Wholesale cheating

Sabah and Sarawak’s agreements as equal partners of the Malaysian Federation, he added, would be examined under an “honest” Royal Commission of Inquiry.

The inquiry, Haris added, would look into the alleged “wholesale cheating” of the two East Malaysian states.

All four points, he said, would be compiled into a concise document for these parties after Oct 27 as a set of guidelines for them to follow.

“We’ll send this document, a brief write-up of what it is… (so that) we can facilitate the leaders (of these parties) to a better understanding (of reforms),” he said.

In the event that a non-BN coalition would take over the federal government, Haris said that MCLM – along with other civil societies – would then hold that administration accountable for reforms.

“We don’t want a new non-BN government post 13th-GE, where a repeal would be called, and they’d (the new government) would say, ‘Oh, the bill is being drafted in the Attorney-General’s Chambers,’ he said, with a fear that it would remain under draft the following year.

“We want them to do (repeal laws such as the ISA) in the first sitting… that these bills are passed and tossed into the rubbish bin.”

Asked if the non-BN parties automatically referred to Pakatan Rakyat, Haris said no. Nevertheless, the MCLM president had choice words to say about political non-performers.

“If they don’t… we kick them out,” he said.