Reforms BN-style: How to waste Parliament’s time

The government-controlled media had billed the last parliamentary sitting of the year as a most significant session laden with reforms but instead of a bang, it began with a whimper.

October 3rd must go down as a particularly unsubstantial day even by the standards of Malaysia’s parliamentary proceedings, standards made poor by the perpetually undemocratic actions of the ruling BN. All the citizens of Malaysia got for the vast sums spent on these proceedings was a lot of hot air and the tabling of empty, meaningless Bills.

First, we had Najib Razak stepping forward to table bills repealing the Banishment and Restricted Residence acts. Notably missing was any bill to repeal the ISA which on September 15th the Prime Minister promised to end at the next sitting of Parliament. That would have been today, if we had a Prime Minister who is an honorable man of his word. The ISA was not repealed.

What we did get was lame excuses from that poor excuse for a Home Minister, Hishamuddin Hussein. He did not give a date, but offered that he would ‘look into it’ in ‘stages’. What does that mean, actually? If it sounds like a bunch of empty words, that is because it is precisely that. Hishamuddin Hussein has been singing that same old song for three and a half years now. He is forever ‘looking into’ the ISA. How not to repeal it, we can only suppose!

Repealing ISA?

The BN government has no intention of abolishing the ISA. They are engaged in a fraudulent PR exercise of trying to make Malaysians think they will repeal that draconian law. A law which they have never hesitated to abuse as in the case of Teresa Kok and many others. Pretend to abolish the ISA and at the same time enact new laws with new acronyms that are just as nasty, as undemocratic and as unjust. Human rights lawyer N.Surendran has essentially labeled this whole process of ‘repealing the ISA’ an exercise in deceit; and that is exactly the BN’s game.

What the BN wants is for the voter to be foolish enough to swallow their lies. What the BN wants is for the voter to believe that the BN can change without first being thrown out of Putrajaya. In fact the BN cannot change without being first unseated. There are too many vested interests and warlords and power players and other such creatures in the BN who like things exactly the way they are right now.

Electoral reforms?

Next up was Nazri Aziz, whose challenge, we suppose, was to keep a straight face as he tabled the PSC on Electoral Reform Bill. The BN wants no reform of the current electoral system. If they reform it, if the election in Malaysia are made free and fair, then the BN will lose the General Elections. However, they do want to pretend to reform it.

We will be able to watch more pointless theatrics from Nazri and his like over the coming months which will all lead to precisely zero reform. Hishamuddin Hussein, apparently attempting to be helpful, managed to again put his foot in his mouth by reiterating that Bersih remains a banned organization. Since Bersih is the organization that is leading electoral change in Malaysia, any honest effort to reform the electoral process would have included Bersih. It is telling that they are excluded and ‘banned’.

In the end, it is not just the laws that are the problem in Malaysia today but the arrogance of the BN in abusing the laws to persecute their political opponents and advance their own interests.

As for this show that the BN put on at taxpayer expense in Parliament today, they are unlikely to have found any takers. ‘Middle’ Malaysia, which Najib is attempting to target with these pseudo-reforms, has moved on; and away from the BN’s obvious falsehoods and false protestations.

Malaysia Chronicle