Democratization: 10 KPIs for Najib’s next 100 days

Introduction

July 11th marks the first 100 days of Najib’s premiership. Will his 100-day performance serve as an indicator for how our country is likely to be governed for the next four years, or was it all a big public relations exercise? The next 100 days is just as critical and we, civil society organisations (CSOs), want to throw the gauntlet down to Najib to extend his program of reform to all aspects of life in the country, especially in the critical sphere of good governance.

First of all, we laud the various measures of economic reform announced lately by the Government. While these bold measures will help liberalize our economy to meet the challenge of globalization, the structural roots of economic stagnation – namely, ethno-nationalism, cronyism, corruption and power abuse – are the major constraints and must be addressed if the country is to make any headway. At the same time, other economic reforms to close the income and wealth gap between the rich and the poor, and reforms aimed at ensuring environmental sustainability that do not deprive future generations also need urgent attention.

Most important of all is the need for reforms that can ensure good governance. If the government insists on maintaining the current authoritarian system of political control, the economic liberalization and other reforms will be seen for what it is - a thinly veiled attempt aimed at ensuring that the present political elite stays in power.

For the next 100 days of Najib’s leadership of the country, we call on the Prime Minister to meet the following 10 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can deepen the process of democratization. We also call upon Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, and all Malaysians who are concerned with the establishment of a vibrant democratic system, to join us in endorsing and monitoring the attainment of these KPIs.


10 Key KPIs for the Next 100 Days

1 Perak Constitutional Crisis

Assessment – deepening crisis which threatens the future of our democratic way of life

Explanation – A host of unelected institutions – palace, judiciary, Attorney General's Chambers, Elections Commission, police, bureaucracy, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission – have been dragged into this unconstitutional regime change. If this precedent is not reversed, what would happen during future elections if neither BN nor Pakatan Rakyat enjoys a comfortable majority?

KPI: Fresh elections for the State of Perak.

2 Electoral System and Process

Assessment – still neither free nor fair

Explanation – Elections lacking integrity and credibility are a denial of our citizens’ democratic right. They also reduce the competitiveness of electoral politics and also deprive the winner of legitimacy. If unreformed, they could lead to political upheavals as has taken place in Iran and Thailand, recently

KPI: A Royal Commission on Electoral Reform before the next Constituency Redelineation exercise.

3 The Judiciary and the Prosecution

Assessment – still controlled by the executive

Explanation – The Judicial Appointment Commission is controlled by the Prime Minister, making the recent reform a farce. Judicial Power in the pre-1998 Article 121(1) of the Federal Constitution has still not been restored. The Attorney General (AG) both controls the prosecution and advises the federal government, resulting in a fatal conflict of interest. The AG also controls both deputy public prosecutors and lower court judges.

KPI: A Parliamentary Select Committee on Judiciary and Prosecution Reform

4 The Parliament

Assessment – still controlled by the executive

Explanation – There is no sharing of legislative leadership at both the house and committee levels. Opposition parliamentarians are thrown out almost on daily basis. There is no provision for the role of Opposition’s Shadow Cabinet.

KPI: A Royal Commission on Parliamentary Reform

5 Internal Security Act (ISA)

Assessment – terrorizing innocent Malaysians who differ in their political opinions from the BN

Explanation – Allowing detention without trial and other violations of human rights is unacceptable to any civilized society.

KPI: The repeal of ISA, with no new laws allowing detention without trial

6 The Police

Assessment – still violating human rights

Explanation – The police still arrest innocent citizens without clear justification. Detainees continue to die in police custody due to unacceptable reasons. At the same time, crime rates have soared higher.

KPI: Implement the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC)

7 The Media

Assessment – still suffering from political control

Explanation – The media remains tightly controlled via laws and regulations curbing free speech and restricting dissenting views. Secondly, entry barrier in the print and broadcast media has resulted in monopolistic control by BN interests. There is no independent public service media like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

KPI: A Parliamentary Select Committee on Media Law Reform

8 Freedom of Information (FOI)

Assessment – still denied

Explanation – Information vital for public interests is normally classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). This has hindered transparency and accountability and also resulted in widespread opportunities for corruption and mismanagement. While Selangor is initiating its own FOI law, nothing is happening at the federal level or other state.

KPI: FOI laws at both the Federal and State levels

9 Local Governments

Assessment – still unelected and unaccountable, largely unresponsive and incompetent

Explanation – No representation without taxation. Local governments should not be the appointed hand maidens of the government in power and must be elected to have any political legitimacy.

KPI: Local Government Elections nationwide.

10 The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)

Assessment – practicing selective investigations, still impotent in fight against corruption

Explanation – Like its predecessor the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), MACC is still controlled by the Executive and has no independent power to prosecute. Hence, it remains the tool of the Executive to eliminate political opponents rather than is an independent institution that is truly combating corruption.

KPI: Amendment of the MACC Act to increase MACC’s autonomy under optimum parliamentary oversight.


Conclusion

Thomas Jefferson, a founding father of the United States, divided leaders into two types: those who do not trust the people and believe they know best; and those who believe that the people are the government’s best guide to pubic interest.

Najib should recognize that political and economic freedoms go hand-in-hand. Economic reform willl not work if there is a coercive political environment built on the suppression and denial of the citizens’ democratic rights.

We hope that Najib will implement the proposed KPIs above and in this way leave the right legacy for the country. Only through his commitment to a genuine and holistic reform programme that includes democratisation will our PM be able to earn the full respect and support of the people and leave his mark on Malaysian history

Initiated by
Liau Kok Fah,
Chairperson,Civil Right Committee , Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (CRC-KLSCAH)

Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Executive Director, Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ)

Dr Lim Teck Ghee, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Initiatives (CPI)

Andrew Khoo, Convener, Civil Society Initiative for Parliamentary Reform (CSI@Parliament)

K, Arumugam, Coordinator, Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC)

Maria Chin Abdullah, Executive Director, Pusat Janadaya (Empower)

Zaid Kamaruddin, President, Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM)

Haris Ibrahim, Convener, People’s Parliament

Tah Moon Hui, Coordinator, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram)

Wong Chin Huat, Chairperson, Writer Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)

Labels: najib tun razak, Prime Minister, Suaram, WAMI

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/11/2009 02:46:00 pm ... 0 blast off

 

 

SUARAM Human Rights Awards 2008: BERSIH Nominated But Lost to HINDRAF

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) was nominated in this year’s SUARAM Human Rights Awards but lost to the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF). Other winner is the Penans of Ulu Baram.

While receiving the certificate of nomination from Yap Swee Seng

The Penans have been struggling for their adat land for extensive logging activities and trespassers who claimed to develop the forest.TK Kelesau, the head of the village who demand the villagers rights to call for hearing and summoned the relevant authorities was denied and later in December 2007, his skull was found in an area where he was last seen. The search started since 23 October 2007. On 30 July 2008, TK Kelesau Naan was awardedby Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Malaysian human rights group SUARAM also released its Overview Report on the situation of human rights in Malaysia in 2008 today, in conjunction with the International Human Rights Day, which also marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.

In its report, which covers major events pertaining to civil and political rights in Malaysia in 2008, SUARAM noted the failure of the Malaysian government to respond to calls for reforms, democratisation and greater respect of human rights, which contributed to the ruling-Barisan Nasional’s biggest loss in Malaysian electoral history in the General Election in March. According to SUARAM’s report, despite the huge loss of popular support, the government still failed to respond to the popular call and continued to hold minimal regard for human rights.

“The government has obviously failed to learn from its debacle in the 12th General Election,” said SUARAM Executive Director, Yap Swee Seng, during the release of the report.

According to SUARAM, after the huge loss of the BN in the General Election, instead of responding to the calls for reforms, democratisation and greater respect for human rights, the government reacted otherwise, using all means to hold on to power in the face of mounting criticisms and challenges to power. SUARAM noted that the BN government once again resorted to blatantly racialised politics to create an environment which would justify the use of an array of repressive laws in response to the loss of confidence in the government of Barisan Nasional and the challenge mounted by the opposition after the General Election.

This, according to SUARAM, was illustrated in September, when the government once again invoked the spectre of racial tensions to justify its use of the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) against a blogger, a journalist, and a member of parliament – all of whom were picked up by the police in the period of 24 hours.

Despite strong calls to abolish or review the ISA, including by component parties of the BN coalition, the government continued to make arrests and detentions under the act throughout the year. 10 arrests were made under the ISA in 2008. 46 detainees remain under the ISA at the end of the year. Despite the drop in the number of detainees at the end of the year as compared to previous years, the situation has not improved substantially, as the draconian act is still being used conveniently by the government, especially in times of political crisis, as was seen in September. Further, 16 of the current detainees have been detained for more than four years, of which 5 have been in detention since 2002.

Besides the ISA, the government also used various other laws and means to exert its control of power.

“Freedom of expression was most severely repressed by the government in 2008, targeting critics and political opposition for persecutions and prosecutions.

“For the first time, we saw bloggers being charged for sedition and criminal defamation, while there were clear selective persecutions on demonstrations throughout the year,” Yap stressed.

Yap said that it is therefore of no surprise that Malaysia fell to an all-time low position of 132nd out of 195 countries in the world ranking of press freedom in 2008, dropping from 124th in 2007.

SUARAM also noted that most of the regressive trends observed in recent years persist. These include the failure of the government to implement most of the more substantial recommendations made by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police (Royal Police Commission).

Other areas of grave concern highlighted in SUARAM’s report are the eroding confidence towards the judiciary with no substantial reforms being taken despite the findings of the Commission of Enquiry on the “Lingam Tape” which confirmed the heavily compromised independence of the judiciary; and the non-recognition of the rights of refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers which resulted in serious violations of their rights, particularly in mass arrests, deportations and inhuman conditions of detention.

Representing BERSIH; Athirah (left) and myself.
Irene Xavier (middle) is one of the judges

Besides highlighting the regressive trends of 2008, SUARAM also noted with concern the imminent change in the top political leadership of the country in March 2009, which could see an attempt by the government to consolidate power after its huge loss in popular support recently. It warned that such attempts to consolidate power, has in the past, resulted in the heightened persecutions and prosecutions of dissidents and critics of the government.

SUARAM called on the government to implement genuine reforms in all policies and sectors in order to comply with the protection and promotion of human rights. It urged the government to ensure institutional reforms such as the immediate establishment of the Independent Police Complaint and Misconduct Commission, the formation of an independent Judicial Appointment pCommission, the amendments to make the Anti-Corruption Agency and the National Human Rights Commission as body independent from the executive and report directly to the Parliament.

It also urged the government to initiate policy reforms such as the ratification of the core international human rights treaties and bring the domestic laws in line with these international treaties, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention Against Torture and the Convention Against All Form of Racial Discrimination.

“The government should implement these genuine reforms if it is to win back the confidence and votes of the people. The people will not hesitate to vote out the Barisan Nasional government in the next election if it continues to perpetuate racial politics and repression of the rights of the people,” warned Yap .

Labels: BERSIH, HINDRAF, penan, Suaram, tk kelesau, Yap Swee Seng

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 12/10/2008 11:21:00 am ... 0 blast off

 

 

MB Selangor do not advocate UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS....????

Labels: Menteri Besar Selangor, Suaram, Tan Sri Abd Khalid Ibrahim

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 3/31/2008 12:47:00 pm ... 0 blast off

 

 

BERSIH: Delegasi Serah Memo Ditahan

Wong Chin Huat, wakil dari Writers' Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) yang berada di perkarangan letak kereta Parlimen ditahan polis kerana mematuhi Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Beliau ditahan selepas menyerahkan memorandum kepada wakil Parlimen untuk dibawa ke pengetahuan Tuan Speaker.

Wong Chin Huat merupakan salah seorang delegasi Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (BERSIH) yang membantah pindaan Perlembagaan Persekutuan secara tergesa-gesa bagi membolehkan Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR) disambungkan tempoh perkhidmatan setahun lagi.

Selain Chin Huat, Pengarah Eksekutf Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Yap Swee Seng dan Pengarah Eksekutif Centre for Media Independence (CIJ), V.Gayathry juga ditahan di tempat yang sama.

Labels: BERSIH, CIJ, Gayathry, Suaram, WAMI, Wong Chin Huat, Yap Swee Seng

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 12/12/2007 11:16:00 am ... 0 blast off