Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will table a motion in the Dewan Rakyat today to lift three emergency proclamations, still in effect more than 40 years after they were enacted.
The emergencies to be lifted are:
The fact that the emergencies are still in effect has allowed the police to utilise emergency powers specified in the Emergency Ordinance, which accorded them vast powers of arrest and detention without trial.
The lifting of the emergency declarations as well as the review of all regulations, ordinances and institutions enacted during the emergencies, such as the Emergency Ordinance and Rela (People's Volunteer Corps), were part of the promises made by the PM in his Malaysia Day address to the nation two months ago.
In the September 15 address, Najib also announced a review of section 27 of the Police Act restricting the freedom of assembly and the abolition of the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Restricted Residence Act (RRA) and the Banishment Act.
Debate on Public Assembly Bill today
The RRA and the Banishment Act were repealed last month, while the Police Act was amended on Wednesday along with the tabling of the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 amid stringent protest from the opposition that the new law would be worse than before.
The bill is to be debated today in Parliament, but the opposition has demanded that the bill to be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the repeal of the ISA is expected in March next year, pending the drafting of two new laws to replace the preventative detention law.
Announced by Najib as part of an initiative to make Malaysia "the world's best democracy", it was seen as a strategy to rebrand the BN leader as a reformer, though critics have argued that the measures have fallen far off the mark, and dismissed the effort as a public relation exercise.
[More to follow]
The emergencies to be lifted are:
- The 1966 state emergency proclamation to "quell political discord" in the Sarawak.
- The 1969 national emergency proclaimed after the racial riots of May 13.
- The 1977 state emergency proclamation issued to "quell political discord" in the Kelantan.
The lifting of the emergency declarations as well as the review of all regulations, ordinances and institutions enacted during the emergencies, such as the Emergency Ordinance and Rela (People's Volunteer Corps), were part of the promises made by the PM in his Malaysia Day address to the nation two months ago.
In the September 15 address, Najib also announced a review of section 27 of the Police Act restricting the freedom of assembly and the abolition of the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Restricted Residence Act (RRA) and the Banishment Act.
Debate on Public Assembly Bill today
The RRA and the Banishment Act were repealed last month, while the Police Act was amended on Wednesday along with the tabling of the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 amid stringent protest from the opposition that the new law would be worse than before.
Meanwhile, the repeal of the ISA is expected in March next year, pending the drafting of two new laws to replace the preventative detention law.
Announced by Najib as part of an initiative to make Malaysia "the world's best democracy", it was seen as a strategy to rebrand the BN leader as a reformer, though critics have argued that the measures have fallen far off the mark, and dismissed the effort as a public relation exercise.
[More to follow]
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