Malaysia: Armed forces ready to intervene says police chief

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, July 3: Cooperation between the police and armed forces is necessary to maintain public order and security in the country. With this in mind, the two security forces launched a joint safety exercise at the Police College in Cheras yesterday.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said cooperation was crucial because political parties, non-governmental organisations and individuals were, of late, organising more illegal assemblies.
"It is crucial, and the right time, for the forces to organise and plan strategies to carry out duties in maintaining public order as outlined in the public order manual," he said.
The exercise, which began yesterday and ends on Monday, is to get planners to understand what it takes to coordinate efforts between the two forces should the need arise.
Musa said the joint exercise, whose focus is on the Klang Valley, especially Kuala Lumpur, Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya, was to show that public order problems could be tackled properly and efficiently by both forces.
Asked if this meant that the armed forces would be used to tackle illegal assemblies, he said this would only be so if absolutely necessary and an emergency had to be declared.
Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Zainal said the exercise was the first of two phases. In this phase, discussions would be held to work out certain procedures.
The second phase involved actual deployment of forces. Legal officers of both forces would advise on the legal aspects of tackling any crisis.
"Such activities (the exercise) have to be carried out so that a standard operating procedure can be worked out. Without such exercises, there will be no coordination when a real threat arises," he said.

The joint military-police exercise was announced as a mass opposition rally against the recent 41% petrol/67% diesel fuel hikes was being built for this Sunday (July 6), and opposition Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim released evidence implicating the deputy prime minister in an alleged murder cover-up.
The executive longstanding Malaysian human rights organisation Aliran issued the following statement on July 3:
"Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan's suggestion yesterday that the military could be asked to help the police in maintaining law and order in the country is disturbing.
"For one thing, Aliran wonders whether the security of the nation now has become unstable to the point that it warrants military intervention. Or is this merely a tactical move to scare ordinary Malaysians from exercising their right to express their stand in public through, for instance, peaceful demonstrations on the street?
"Civilian matters should be handled by the police force in the most professional way possible because as the experience of neighbouring countries has shown, once out of the military barracks, the army may find it difficult to return.
"The IGP's remarks may only add fuel to the speculation that given the twists of events in the political sphere, the country may be put under emergency rule."
People's Front leaders on the night of July 3 to discuss the dangerous and rapidly shifting political situation in the country.
Sources: NST, Star, Aliran