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Panicky Mahathir
acts against street demonstrations after PAS snub
By Abdar-Rahman
Koya
In what
is seen as a sign of desperation by the Mahathir regime,
Ezam Nor, a leading Malaysian political activist, was
arrested on March 5 for his role in a series of well-attended
street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur over the last
few months.
Ezam Nor,
35, a one-time aide to former deputy prime minister
Anwar Ibrahim, has been considered a threat to the Mahathir
dictatorship since he revealed official documents proving
massive high-level corruption involving Mahathir’s children
and members of his cabinet. Ezam had reportedly threatened
to hold demonstrations throughout the country to topple
the government: the sort of thing not many would dare
to say in public.
Ezam’s
arrest came after an embarrassing episode set off by
the government’s invitation to the leaderships of Islamic
Party of Malaysia (PAS) and the National Justice Party
(Keadilan), headed by Anwar’s wife, to a closed-door
meeting with the ruling United Malay National Organisation
(UMNO). The media called it ‘the Malay unity talk’:
Mahathir argued that it was aimed at relieving the increasing
friction within the Malay community.
Although
Keadilan stayed away from such gestures, PAS accepted
the invitation, instantly gaining media coverage and
even praise from UMNO leaders. The PAS decision was
made at the risk of losing support from its erstwhile
supporters. After enjoying media publicity it once could
only dream of, PAS announced its withdrawal, hours before
the much-vaunted talk between its president, Fadzil
Noor, and Mahathir was due to take place. Instead, the
party set conditions that are almost impossible for
the UMNO to accept before such talks can take place:
that the RM1 billion oil royalty withdrawn from the
PAS-ruled Terengganu state government be returned, and
that its popular fortnightly tabloid Harakah be restored
to its original publication permit of twice a week.
PAS also demanded that the harassment of peaceful protesters
be stopped immediately.
Mahathir
had earlier agreed to PAS’s demands that issues such
as Islam and the judiciary be discussed in the talks.
When asked, Mahathir said he would also look into PAS’s
other demands, indicating for the first time his willingness
to sit down with an opposition party which until recently
has been treated with contempt.
PAS said
that the demands were made in order to create a condusive
atmosphere for such talks. "We don’t want to be
like the mid-east talks, where they continue to shoot
people on the one hand, while discussions are going
on," said PAS president Fadzil Noor. Mahathir’s
tightly-controlled media has already started to churn
out almost daily propaganda programmes emphasising UMNO’s
"willingness to swallow its pride" and sit
down with PAS.
This is,
however, far from the truth. UMNO has been weakened
since Mahathir sacked his deputy on bizzare sex charges
and jailed him after equally bizzare trials. That shook
the Malay Muslims and a large part of Malaysia, but
it was the former who felt strongly that something was
wrong with the Mahathir government, and ultimately took
to the streets in large numbers.
Three
years into the Anwar saga, demonstrations are no longer
frowned upon in Malaysia. This year alone, no less than
five large anti-Mahathir rallies have been held, including
two in Mahathir’s constituency in northern Kedah, attended
by hundreds of thousands according to police estimates.
Most of the protests, although peaceful, have been violently
dispersed using teargas and police brutality, but none
of these tactics seem to have helped to instil the fear
of arrest. To date, more than 2,000 people – mostly
Malay Muslims – have been arrested and charged with
participating in "illegal gatherings", a phrase
the regime uses for anything from opposition rallies
to walkathon events. Recent events in neighbouring Manila
and Jakarta have led to more street protests, attracting
tens of thousands of people.
When asked
what other channels there are to air dissatisfaction
to official policies and abuses, the government cannot
answer, and urges people to go to the ballot boxes,
which are held under close supervision of the now discredited
police force and the government-commissioned election
bodies.
As well
as terrorising protesters, the Mahathir regime has also
banned publications that even mildly reflect dissenting
views. To date, the permits of a dozen magazines and
newspapers have been withdrawn, copies confiscated or
their editors warned. This has led to a surge in the
use of the internet, which Mahathir’s government has
been promoting in his attempt to make Malaysia a ‘silicon
valley’ for the Asian region. Websites providing almost
hourly-updated news have been set up to assist the reformasi
movement, informing people of demonstrations and exposing
government abuses, while other sites give ‘balanced’
reporting. Even this the government refuses to tolerate,
as shown by its harassment of an online-news portal,
malaysiakini.com, which is now the most logged-onto
news-site in Malaysia. The government media has accused
the site of being financed by George Soros: a ‘crime’
not because of Soros’ alleged manipulation of currencies,
but merely because Mahathir dislikes him.
Still
the battered regime is trying to persuade PAS to talk.
Until now, PAS has responded cautiously. The party has
twice been duped into joining hands with the ruling
UMNO. This time, Mahathir may not have any plans to
offer the party a role in the government, but hopes
to neutralise it by some other means. And that, in view
of recent events, is a task few believe Mahathir can
achieve.
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