Malaysia: Socialists warn to return of Mahathir-style repression

By Peter Boyle
“As present deputy PM Najib Razak plans to takeover the prime ministership from Abdullah Badawi on April 2, there seems to be a pattern of growing repression”, warns Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) secretary general S. Arutchelvan.
“The dark ages of [former PM] Mahathir are returning with incidents such as the one-year suspension from parliament of opposition MP Gobind Singh Deo (for calling Najib a murderer), the three-month ban of two popular opposition newspapers, recent police attacks on opposition public assemblies, the referring sodomy charges against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to the High Court, the setting up of a new “anti-corruption agency” to investigate opposition leaders and the rejection of the PSM's party symbol [a red clenched fist].
“Harakah is a popular twice-weekly newspaper produced by the Islamic Party (PAS). During the Mahathir era there was a clamp down on this paper but during Badawi this was relaxed. Now its banned again. The other banned paper is Suara Keadilan of the Justice Party (PKR).”
On March 23, riot police used water cannon and tear gas to attack a 5000-strong public meeting of PKR supporters in Sungei Patani.
PSM deputy chairperson M. Saraswathy says that the increasingly unpopular Basiran Nasional (BN) government “resorting to more dirty, more lawless and more devious means to hold onto power at any cost”.

Political tsunami

“The March 2008 political tsunami that swept the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) [the People's Front opposition coalition which includes the PKR, the Islamic Party (PAS) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP)] into power in five states was the result of an unprecedented level of disenchantment with the BN’s 50-year rule. The neo-liberal policies of the government had made the lives of the majority of the people miserable. All the welfare state projects were rolled back one by one, resulting in rising prices of basic services while real wages dropped.
“Now the current economic crisis is pushing people into greater hardship and further angering them. People have little faith that the federal government's hefty stimulus packages will benefit them, and as times worsen there will be more resentment towards the BN federal government.”

Dirty tactics

In February, the BN regained controlled of one of five state governments won by opposition parties in the 2008 elections through dirty tactics, Saraswathy explained.
“The PR had a narrow three-seat majority in the state assembly but the BN wrested away three seats from the PR by using back door tactics. They bought over two PKR state assemblymen who were facing corruption charges, and went on to pay a hefty sum of money to a DAP state assemblywoman who was the deputy speaker.
“The BN used the Perak monarchy to aid and abet in their unlawful power grab. The Perak Sultan, who has large vested financial interests, removed the opposition government.”

PSM's MP stands out

Saraswathy said that the PSM continued to “put forward socialist arguments, analysis, perspectives and proposals, making our one MP stand apart from the rest”.
“These proposals include a retrenchment fund, land for farming, food stamps, freezing of housing loan repayments, etc.
“A number of these demands were creatively carried to the public in a nation-wide bicycle campaign which made history. The PSM's cyclists, who faced severe police harassment as they made their way around the country, finally entered parliament and handed over a memorandum. This has never happened before, and was only made possible because of our MP, and it succeeded in highlighting the demands of the campaign to a large number of people.
“We believe change comes through people’s power and we still have a long way to go in the struggle. But our election victories have had a great impact on the party’s development. Having a vocal state assemblyman in Selangor and a federal parliamentarian have been very good propaganda platforms for the party and enabled us to demonstrate to people what socialists stand for.
“Party policies and actions in PSM constituencies, such as yearly asset declarations, formation of People’s Consultative Councils at constituency level, and the practice of a different culture of politics – all this has had great appeal and has contributed to the likelihood of PSM becoming a third force on the Malaysian political scene.”

PSM deputy chairperson M. Saraswathy will be one of several international guest speakers at the the World At A Crossroads conference in Sydney, Australia, April 10-12. For more information, or to book tickets, visit http://www.worldatacrossroads.org