Malaysia PM warns on freedoms (Financial Times)
By John Burton in Singapore
Published: December 10 2007 16:03 | Last updated: December 10 2007 16:03
Abdullah Badawi, the Malaysian prime minister, warned on Monday he was willing to sacrifice public freedoms for stability as the government extended a crackdown against opposition groups.
A series of protests have emerged in recent weeks as the biggest political challenge to confront the prime minister since he took office in 2003. Police at the weekend arrested 21 opposition members who staged street protests in the past month demanding electoral laws reforms, fair treatment of racial minorities and an improvement in human rights.
The sudden eruption of street demonstrations, which are banned in Malaysia, appears to have shaken the Abdullah administration and may disrupt plans to call an early general election next year.
“If voters are easily persuaded ... by people playing the racial card, then we are heading for disaster,” Mr Abdullah told a business audience on Monday. “If the choice is between public safety and public freedoms, I do not hesitate to say here that public safety will always win,” he said. “We must never ever take our peace for granted.”
The protests reflect discontent among ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities over Malaysia’s long-standing policy of affirmative action for ethnic Malays, who make up just over half of the country’s population of 25m.
The most overt challenge to the policy occurred late last month when at least 10,000 ethnic Indians protested against what they claim was discrimination in the allocation of university places and government jobs.
The leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which organised the protest, appeared in court on Monday as prosecutors sought permission to charge them with sedition. They were recently released by a lower court on a technicality. Mr Abdullah has warned that the Hindraf leaders, all of whom are lawyers, could be detained indefinitely without trial under the country’s internal security act if they pose a danger to national stability.
Government officials have suggested that Hindraf is seeking possible links with militant groups on the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger separatist group or the RSS, the extremist offshoot of India’s Hindu nationalist BJP party.
P. Utayakumar, a Hindraf leader, dismissed the allegations as a pretext for the government to ban the group and he has filed a complaint with the police over the accusations.
However, a crackdown on Hindraf could harm Malaysia’s ties with India, which recently expressed concerns about the treatment of ethnic Indians in Malaysia. In response, Malaysia has said the issue is an internal matter and has asked New Dehli not to interfere.
Government officials claim the recent protests have scared off foreign investors and tourists and more could threaten economic growth.
Mr Abdullah’s strong stance comes as Bersih, an electoral reform group, is planning to submit a petition of demands during a protest on Tuesday.
In an apparent warning against Tuesday’s rally, several officials from two opposition parties were arrested at the weekend with others who attempted to hold a human rights march in Kuala Lumpur, the capital.
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