Kill the Bill: Defend our constitutional right and reject the Peaceful Assembly Bill

We, Killthebill.org, part of the Kempen Kebebasan Berhimpun (KKB) represents many Malaysians from all walks of life who have come together to oppose the Peaceful Assembly Bill (PAB), urge all the 70members of Dewan Negara to put the Federal Contitutions and public interest before partisan interest and reject the bill. N the past four weeks hundreds have join the creative protest initiated and pioneered by KillTheBill.org in protest of PAB. By rejecting the bill, Dewan Negara can force the Executive to review the bill and avoid the embarrassment of a bill that is not enforceable.

We urge the Senators to consider the four compelling reasons before speaking up on the bill.

Firstly, the Bill was drafted without meaningful and inclusive public consultation. The proof of a pudding is in the eating. That the Bill has triggered overwhelming public outrage when the bill is, meant to be ‘revolutionary’ and ‘ giant leap’ speaks volume of its quality. The bill was so ill-prepared that the Prime Minister had to distance himself from the legislative process and instruct six amendments. Unfortunately, its flaws are plenty and cannot be mitigated with just the amendments introduced in the Dewan Rakyat.

Secondly, the Bill does not meet international standards in regulating public assemblies despite the Government’s claim to have consulted legislations and legal experts from other countries. The international best practices aims to facilitate and not to obstruct public assemblies, whether they are static, in motion or spontaneous. In general only assemblies in motion (street rallies) are required to inform the authorities in advance for the purpose of traffic control. This notice period can even be shortened for spontaneous assemblies in response to disruptive development, such as invasion of a country by another. However, in Malaysia, assemblies in motion (street rallies) are outright prohibited while unreasonable restrictions are placed on venue and age of the participants, with hefty fine for those who fail to comply.

Thirdly, the Bill is all-encompassing that its enforcement will either be selective or ridiculous. An unselective enforcement of the law would mean that a picnic of two persons or more who are not family members is seen as a public assembly. Hence, the organisers must inform the police 10 days in advance. Picnic must not be within 50 meter of a bridge or a school. Persons below 21 years old cannot organise picnic. Finally, parents who bring children to picnics organised by non-family members may be fined up to RM 20,000. There will be no police personnel left to patrol the streets if the police have to handle the notification of all public assemblies. If picnic should not need advance notification to the police, where do we draw the line on other public assemblies? Leaving the discretion to the police will not result in inequality and Type equation here.injustice but also breed corruption.

Fourthly, the Bill does not prevent violence. The argument that we need restriction on freedom of assembly to ensure peace is flawed. What disrupts peace is violence, which is regulated by the Penal Code. The threat to peace in Malaysia is not freedom of assembly, but impunity on violence where certain quarters can threaten others with violence and walk away freely without being charged for criminal intimidation. To prevent violence by restricting public assemblies makes as much sense as to prevent pickpockets by handcuffing pedestrians.

Fifthly, the Bill is unconstitutional and unMalaysian. The view that Malaysians can express themselves through other means therefore freedom of assembly can be suppressed is flawed. If Malaysians do not need freedom of assembly, it should not appear in Article 10(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution. Malaysians must have the right to peaceably assemble because we are not slaves. Those who claim that Malaysians having freedom is dangerous show their highest contempt to not only the Federal Constitution, but the very notion of Malaysia as a free nation.

The Dewan Negara is meant to check the excesses and ill-considered decisions of the Dewan Rakyat, as the role of every upper house in bicameral legislature. The Dewan Rakyat erred on compromising the Federal Constitution and encroaching Malaysians’ freedom on November 29. The Dewan Negara must correct this mistake today. The Senators must fulfil their pledge to defend the Constitution and our freedom. They must vote against the Peaceful Assembly Bill, which is not to preserve peace but to suppress assembly. Each and every of the Senators will be held accountable by history and the generations to come for their decision today on our freedom.

- Killthebill.org