PN only concerned about its political longevity - CSOs analysis

The Perikatan Nasional government was only concerned about its political longevity and to return to power with a mandate, according to an analysis by a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs).

The coalition that dubbed themselves as the CSO Platform for Reform said this in their analysis report on the first 100 days of the PN government.

"While Pakatan Harapan was focused on institutional reforms, PN is only concerned about political longevity and the return to power with a mandate.

"This is clear in the fact that there has been no leadership on the ongoing xenophobia and hate against migrants and refugees. We are yet to see the prime minister or his cabinet sending a strong message to the public asking them to stop the backlash.

"Rather, the exact opposite happened with the defence minister demanding an apology from Al Jazeera to all Malaysians for its 'controversial' report about the plight of migrants during the movement control order (MCO) and senior officials justifying the derogatory treatment of migrants and refugees," said the report.

It was referring to the increasing hatred against migrants and refugees which happened during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially after Al Jazeera's 101 East published its “Locked Up in Malaysia's Lockdown” which featured several migrants in the country speaking up about the plight faced by their community.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had hit out at Al Jazeera and demanded an apology for the documentary, while there was a public backlash against the documentary and migrants for allegedly tarnishing Malaysia's image.

The coalition's report, which also analyses the performance of Harapan's 22-month stint, was launched in an event in Petaling Jaya earlier today.

According to the coalition's press release, CSO Platform for Reform involves a total of 75 NGOs which focuses on issues ranging from environment, corruption to police reforms.

It said the analysis was based on a compilation of reports on various themes against the reforms that emerged since the 14th general election in 2018 and look at the achievement and shortcomings of both the Harapan and PN administrations.

However, the coalition also stressed that its analyses are not meant to be a side-by-side comparison of the two governments.

Criminalisation of LGBTIQ community

The analysis also concluded that both governments had fared poorly in several common areas.

One of them was in the criminalisation of the LGBTIQ persons, according to the report.

"Another clear blight on both governments is the criminalisation of LGBTIQ persons under multiple federal and state Syariah laws.

"In addition, there have been state-funded and sponsored LGBT-related activities and programmes that promote rehabilitation or suppression of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression of LGBT persons since 2011."

The report named a programme by the Islamic Development Department called Ilaj Wa Syifa, which is a voluntary rehabilitation programme, and a five-year government action plan to combat social illnesses as examples of programmes deemed as suppressing the group.

"The pressure to change or suppress one's sexual orientation and gender identity is overwhelming in Malaysia, and has resulted in low health-seeking behaviour, self-blame and self-guilt, and an increased number of LGBT persons seeking asylum abroad to be able to be themselves and seek opportunities," it stated.

Meanwhile, in the area of civil society engagement, the CSO Platform for Reform says that Harapan government appeared to have scored highest in civil society engagement.

It also praised Harapan for its measures to prevent corruption, including by establishing the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023, and the setup of the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption, and special Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption, among others.

On the downside, according to the group, Harapan government had failed to keep its promise to reform the government-linked companies (GLCs).

"The reform of GLCs is possibly the Harapan government's most badly kept promise, with no parliamentary committee, no strategic execution and policing of its role.

"Further, no review of its role has been done. Most companies are publicly funded, and their initial purpose was to rectify the social inequalities in Malaysia.

"The problem is not the political appointments in itself but when they are baseless and meritless." - Mkini