Malaysia's crackdown on protesters condemned after dumping of elected government

Update

06 March 2020 18:10:32

The Malaysian government faces international criticism for the arrest of pro-democracy activists following the political unrest that saw the Prime Minister resign.

About 20 people were arrested and interrogated by police after organizing protests in Kuala Lumpur last week, including prominent lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri.

Ms Fadiah under investigation for tweeting "Turun ke Jalan, Demokrasi Mati" (Go to the streets, democracy is dead), urging Malaysians to protest after a week of behind-the-scenes politicization resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

"It is a coup, and it is a betrayal of the people's mandate," she told the CBA.

"The fact that racists, kleptocrats, the corrupt are back in the game makes people angry, disappointed, frustrated. This is why they feel the need to take to the streets."

The pact of hope falls

Dr. Mahathir's Pakatan Harapan (the Pact of Hope) coalition was elected in May 2018, in a historic victory that overthrew the Barisan Nasional coalition that had dominated Malaysian politics since the country's founding.

He was elected on a progressive political platform, which has promised to tackle Malaysia's long-standing racial politics and to annul the use of the laws of the Assembly peaceful and sedition to pursue government critics.

However, Pakatan Harapan experienced a difficult period in government for two years, which led Dr Mahathir's deputy for Bersatu party, Muhyiddin Yassin, to take office as Prime Minister.

Critics contend that Muhyiddin, who is linked to the disgraced former Prime Minister Najib Razak's government, has no democratic mandate and that the rise of the conservative Malaysian nationalist and his supporters represents a virtual return to Barisan Nasional.

Many fear that the new government will see the judiciary acquit Najib, who faces charges for his alleged role in the theft of $ 4.5 billion ($ 6.3 billion) from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

"The dishonorable conduct of many elected members of Parliament, changing allegiances back and forth, has undermined people's confidence in our democracy," said Thomas Fann, founder and president of Bersih, a coalition of non-profit organizations. pro-democracy governments.

"As far as we are concerned, Muhyiddin does not have the mandate of the people, therefore no legitimacy," he said.

"It is a total betrayal of the mandate given by the voters to Pakatan Harapan."

Upon taking office, Muhyuddin assured voters that he was "Malaysian first" a statement of his allegiance to the country's largest ethnic group, Muslim-majority and dominant in politics and politics. bureaucracy.

The Chinese and Indian ethnic populations have long suffered from discriminatory policies and overwhelmingly support Pakatan Harapan.

"They know that by using race and religion in Malaysia, it will help them to be in power and to continue to be in power," said Ms. Fadiah, who works for the Center for Anti-Corruption and the cronyism.

"Many people, from marginalized communities, feel that the country is really going in the wrong direction."

Malaysia once again criticized

The change of government in 2018 had seen many international observers praising Malaysia as a rare example of democratic progress in Asia.

"It was one of our successes a few years ago," said Sarah Repucci, of the American democracy watchdog Freedom House.

But now he is again the subject of international criticism of undemocratic measures such as the arrest of government critics.

"These investigations have the effect of harassing and intimidating human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists and look disturbingly like another crackdown on dissent," said director Frederick Rawski for Asia to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).

Teddy Baguilat, former Filipino MP and member of the ASEAN Council of Parliamentarians for Human Rights, said the arrests marked "a return to the tactics used by the regime that the people voted for power ".

"In addition to ignoring the will of the people by installing a government that has not been democratically elected, the authorities are now closing critical voices by intimidating those who demonstrated peacefully," he said.

After being threatened by opponents with a vote of no confidence, Mr. Muhyiddin delayed the sitting of Parliament by two months.

In a TV address earlier this week, Muhyiddin said he would give "his heart and soul" to the Malaysian people.

"Whether you are Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, whatever your ethnicity, I am Prime Minister for all," he said. But many wonder if this will be the case.

"In India we see religion as a vehicle for inflicting violence against minorities, the same thing is happening here," said Ms. Fadiah.

"These politicians, these supremacist groups are more and more emboldened. People feel the fear that the politics of division is no longer entrenched."

The subjects:

world politics,

Government and politics,

Malaysia,

Asia

Published for the first time

06 March 2020 17:29:53