Tolak UMNO- BN Tolak dasar poket UMNO-BN didahulukan, kroni UMNO diutamakan

Tolak UMNO- BN

Tolak dasar poket UMNO-BN didahulukan, kroni UMNO diutamakan

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) menyeru kepada rakyat supaya menolak regim UMNO-BN, dan menolak dasar UMNO-BN, kerana di bawah dasar ekonomi baru dan politik baru ini poket UMNO-BN didahulukan dan kroni UMNO diutamakan. Inilah kelanjutan dasar dan skim  cepat kaya Dr Mahathir  untuk mengkayakan segelintir kerabat dan kroni mereka supaya menjadi bilionwan dan pada masa yang sama memiskinkan rakyat jelata.

Pada Parti Rakyat Malaysia, arah tuju UMNO-BN amat jelas sekarang,  apa-apa jenis transformasi yang diuar-uarkan dan diketengahkan oleh regim UMNO-BN di bawah kepimpinan Najib Tun Razak adalah semata-mata untuk meraih balik kepercayaan dan sokongan rakyat yang telah hilang , seterusnya untuk memancing undi rakyat, dan dengan demikian  untuk memanjangkan dasar mengaut  keuntungan dan kekayaan banyak-banyak dengan mengorbankan wang pembayar cukai dan kekayaan negara.

Apa yang terpapar,  projek-projek mega yang telah diumumkan baru-baru ini seperti projek 100-tingkat  Warisan Merdeka yang akan  dibina  atas pembinasaan tapak bersejarah di tengah-tengah Kuala Lumpur dan memakan berbilion-bilion ringgit, mengingatkan kita projek-projek  mega yang tidak memanfaatkan rakyat  semasa Dr Mahathir memimpin kerajaan UMNO-BN. Sebaliknya pelaksanaan GST dan penarikan subsidi untuk kesihatan rakyat dan lain-lain ditangguhkan buat sementara ini.

Jika rakyat terus percaya akan kata-kata manis UMNO-BN setelah 55 tahun memerintah dan memberi undi sokongan kepada UMNO-BN, nasib rakyat dan negara kita pasti menjerumus ke arah daif miskin dan negara kita akan hilang daya persaingan dan jauh tertinggal dalam arus perubahan deras dunia.

Jika UMNO-BN diberikan kepercayaan dan kuasa , rancangan GST dan penghapusan  subsidi bagi barangan keperluan dan perkhidmatan asas seperti kesihatan dan perubatan untuk rakyat  akan dilaksanakan kelak kerana kekayaan asli untuk dikaut oleh UMNO-BN makin hari makin habis.

Pada masa itu, bukan sahaja harga barangan akan melambung naik, bahkan pengangguran dan masalah undang-undang dan keselamatan  masyarakat pasti menjadi lebih buruk, rakyat tidak akan hidup dalam suasana berpendapatan tinggi, malahan  tidak  wujud lagi suasana hidup yang selamat dan selesa, kebajikan rakyat akan dihapuskan.

Oleh itu, PRM menyeru rakyat menolak UMNO-BN dalam PRK Galas dan memberikan sokongan kepada calon PAS, dan juga menolak UMNO-BN pada PRU ke-13 kelak untuk mencetuskan “transformasi” tulen kepada negara ini.

Yang benar,

(Koh Swe Yong)

Setiausaha Agung

012-2766551

Joint Statement (71 Groups): JVC Unjustly Discriminates Against Burmese Migrant Women Workers Who Claim Worker Rights

Media Statement – 21/10/2010

JVC Unjustly Discriminates Against Burmese Migrant

Women Workers Who Claim Worker Rights

We, the undersigned 71 civil society organizations and groups, would like to express our serious concern that JVC has indicated that they will not re-new the employment contracts of Pa Pa Aye and 15 other Burmese women migrant workers, who lodged a claim at the Labour Department claiming worker rights that the JVC company had violated, amongst them the wrongful deduction of their wages to recover levy that employers have to pay when they employ foreign workers. The other 7 workers, who complained, whose contract was renewed in August, will also be terminated and repatriated. The information contained in this statement has been provided by the affected workers.

JVC has its factory at Lot. No.1, Persiaran Jubli Perak, Jalan 22/1, Section 22, Shah Alam, 40702 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, and they manufactures cameras, video cameras and audio equipment components, amongst others.

On 21/7/2010, Pa Pa Aye and 22 other women migrant workers lodged a complaint at the Subang Jaya Labour Office in Malaysia. Amongst their demands were for the return of monies wrongly deducted from their wages for levy the employer had to pay to the Malaysian government for employing migrant workers, other unlawful deductions like transfer fees, saving funds, etc amounting to about RM3,500-00, and for the return of the Passports which are still wrongly being held by  the employer . They were also claiming for the balance of the wages that they were entitled. According to the workers, the employer was to pay them much more about RM50 per day but they were only paid the sum of RM23.

On 6/8/2010, after night shift when the women workers were being transported back to their homes, their bus took a different route, and suddenly stopped where the agent was waiting. The agent then called one of the Burmese women migrant workers who had complaint to the Labour Department and asked her to leave the bus and follow him. The workers suspected that the agent was trying to get the worker sent back to Burma, and they stood together and prevented the agent from taking the worker. The workers then lodged a police report about this incident. There have also been other cases of harassment, whereby in one incident 3 men entered the women’s hostel and threatened them.

The workers, through their representatives, which included an officer from the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) also complained about this incident to JVC, and JVC gave the assurance that this will not happen again and they guaranteed that all workers could continue to work in JVC.

On 12/8/2010, the agent tried to force the workers to sign a new contract, but all workers refused to sign it. The pressure on the workers to sign the new contract took place at the factory compound. Later on the same day the JVC’s Human Resource Manager, one Mr. Mazlan, and the HR Assistant Manager, one Ms. Ida, also tried to pressure the workers to sign the new contracts. The new contract was written in English only (just like their old contract). The workers to date do not have a copy of their old contract, as they were never given a copy. The new contract allegedly stated that their daily salary will be reduced to RM21, which is RM2 less than what the workers have been getting until now.

On 25/8/2010, the Burmese workers informed us that JVC had summarily dismissed 30 Sri Lanka women migrant workers in retaliation for their demand that JVC pay them their promised monthly salary of RM750. After the dismissal JVC and the agent, Fast Link Trans, began forceful repatriation of the workers. On 28/8/2010, 8 Sri Lankan workers were allegedly sent home. These workers apparently never received the amount owing them and/or any compensation for premature termination of their contract.

On 8/9/2010, JVC’s Human Resources Officer, in the presence of the Labour Officer and the agent’s representative from a company known as Fast Link Trans, tried to return to the Burmese workers the amount they said was the levy that had been wrongfully deducted from the wages and asked the workers to sign a document which was in English. The workers refused as the amount offered was far less than the sum deducted, and  they did not want to sign any document which was in a language they did not know.

The company also refused to give a copy of the document to enable them to get an independent person who spoke Burmese to translate its contents to them.

On 28/9/2010, the agent informed the workers that when their current annual contract expires, their contracts will not be renewed and they will all be sent back to Burma. The contracts of 15 of these workers’ contract will expire in October, and the rest by the end of the year. Pa Pa Aye’s own contract expires in early November. The contracts of 7 others which expired in August have already been renewed. Later, on about 7/10/2010, the agent informed the workers that all 23 of them will be terminated and sent back to Burma. The process of forced repatriation of the Burmese workers has already begun with one worker being sent back to Burma on 9/10/2010.

It must be stated that according to the workers, when they came to Malaysia to work with JVC the agreement was that they will be employed for a period of at least 3 years, but when they arrived and started working, they were made to sign 1-year contracts with the verbal assurance that it will be renewed every year for at least a total of 3 years. The threat of early termination and deportation is also wrong and discriminatory as JVC has continued to renew contracts of others who had started work around the same time as these Burmese migrant workers.

Any early termination, and/or non renewal of the 1-year employment contracts by JVC can reasonably be seen as a retaliation of the company against workers who have elected to claim their rights as workers. Their case at the Labour Department is pending, and a termination and repatriation back to Burma will mean that the workers will not be able to continue to pursue their claim in the Labour Department/Court as the presence of the worker in the hearing of their claims against the employer is compulsory, and their absence will mean that their case will just be struck off,

We, the undersigned groups, call upon JVC to respect worker rights and their right to access to justice and not cause these 23 Burmese workers to be terminated and deported.

We  urge that JVC to respect the law and the legal process initiated by the lodging of the complaint by the workers at the Labour Department, and to respect and abide with the outcome of the hearing at the Labour Court. Workers should not be terminated and/or discriminated against by reason of the fact that they choose to demand for their rights or better rights as workers. For those who have already been repatriated back to their country of origin, including those workers from Sri Lanka, JVC must compensate them for their expenses in coming to Malaysia to work, and for the early termination of their employment.

We call on JVC to act justly and not to terminate these workers, and to renew their contract so that they can pursue their claims until completion. JVC should also adhere to their earlier promise that these workers will be employed for a period of at least 3 years, for migrant workers do expend a lot of money (850-1,000 USD) when they do come to Malaysia to work and any early termination and breach of rights will only leave these workers in a worse situation as they may not be even to settle the debts they incurred in coming here to Malaysia to work.

We call on Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) to inquire into this complaint concerning the violation of worker rights by JVC.

We also call on the Malaysian government and the Human Resource Minister to ensure that no workers are terminated and/or discriminated against by reason of the fact that they have stood up to claim their rights as workers.

The Malaysian government should also ensure that no migrant worker is terminated and/or repatriated back to their country of origins until the employer has fully settled all outstanding worker claims and/or payments. If migrant workers are terminated, the Malaysian government must ensure that these workers are allowed to stay and work legally in Malaysia until all outstanding claims and legal processes are settled. If special passes and visas are required to ensure workers ability to stay and work legally, it must be given gratis without requiring the workers to pay anything. Worker cases must be expedited, and independent translators should be available at all Labour Departments and courts.

Labour rights must take precedent over immigration law. Do not deport until worker claims are determined and settled by Labour Department and/or courts.

Charles Hector

Pranom Somwong

For and on behalf of the following 71 organizations

ALIRAN,  

Asia  Pacific Forum on Women ,Law and Development ( APWLD)

Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)

Asian Migrants Center (AMC)

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)

BAYAN USA

BUGKOS

Building and Wood Workers International Asia Pacific Regional Office

Burma Campaign, Malaysia

Burmese Women's Union (BWU)

Coalition To Abolish Modern-Day Slavery In Asia

Committee for Asian Women (CAW)

Community Development Services (CDS), Sri Lanka

Coordination of Action Research on AIDS & Mobility (CARAM-ASIA)

Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), Burma

FICAP – Aichi

Filipino Migrants Center – FMC

Forum for Democracy in Burma

GABRIELA – Japan

Gabriela-Taiwan

Grassroots Human Rights Education & Development (GHRE-FED), Thailand

Human Rights Education Institute of Burma

IHI Action Group (Iwi Have Influence), New Zealand

IMA Research Foundation, Bangladesh

Kachin Women's Association, Thailand

KAFIN – Nagoya

KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Youth Section

League of Filipino Seniors (LFS)

Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW), Cambodia

MADPET - Malaysians against Death Penalty and Torture

Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement (DEMA)

MAP Foundation, Thailand

May 1st Coalition, Co-Coordinator, USA

Mekong Migration Network ( MMN)

Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand

Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) 

Migrante-Denmark chapter

Migranteng Ilonggo sa Taiwan

Migrante International

Migrante international - Hsinchuang chapter

Migrante International - Taiwan chapter

Migrante-Middle East and Migrante-Saudi Arabia chapter

MIGRANTE – Nagoya

Migrants  Trade Union (MTU), Korea

Migrant Workers Network – New Zealand

National League for Democracy [NLD (LA)], Malaysia

Nepal Institute of Development Studies( NIDS) ,NEPAL

Network for Empowerment of Women in Vietnam

Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)

Penggerak Belia Zon 23 MPSJ, Malaysia

Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Persatuan Penduduk Taman Muhibbah, Malaysia

Persatuan Prihatin Komuniti KL & Selangor

Philippine Society in Japan – Nagoya

PINAY (Montreal)

Pusat Komas, Malaysia

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor, Malaysia

Shan Refugee Organization (Malaysia)

Shan Women Action Network (SWAN), Thailand

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

Tenaganita, Malaysia

The Federation of Trade Unions Burma (FTUB)

The Filipino Women's Organization in Quebec

The National Human Rights Society (Persatuan Kebangsaan Hak Asasi  Manusia, HAKAM), Malaysia

The Shwe Gas Movement

Unite Union New Zealand

Women Empowerment Association

Workers Hub for Change (WH4C)

Yaung  Chi Oo Workers Association  ( YCOWA)

Yayasan Annisa Swasti (YASANTI), Indonesia

Activists decry changes to Employment Act (Free Malaysia Today)

Activists decry changes to Employment Act

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:32, Free Malaysia Today

By Rahmah Ghazali

KUALA LUMPUR: Draconian, oppressive, inhuman, a suck-up to the rich and a betrayal of the working man—these are some of the epithets civic groups are using to describe proposed amendments to the Employment Act that the Human Resources Ministry will soon table in Parliament. 

R Ravindrakumar, a member of the Malaysian Bar’s Industrial Law Committee, said the amendments would put a halt to workers’ industrial freedom.

Speaking at a press conference in the presence of other labour activists, he said some of the proposals would have the effect of restricting workers’ access to justice when their employers unlawfully dismiss them.

Under the current law, he explained, “when an employee’s termination is unlawful, the chairman of the industrial court will determine whether the employee’s termination was done with just cause.”

The proposed amendments, however, identify several groups of employees that will not have the benefit of seeking redress through the industrial court.

These groups would include those who earn RM10,000 and above a month, those who have accepted retrenchment benefits, and those on fixed-term contracts, such as probationers.

This would go against the Federal Constitution, which provides for equality before the law, according to Ravindrakumar.

He said: “If the constitution says that everyone is equal, why exclude certain people? When you exclude them, what remedy to they have?

“At best, they could go to civil court, which has no power to reinstate an employee back to his job.”

The amendments will go through their second reading in Parliament this month.

There are also plans to amend the Industrial Relations Act and the Trade Union Act.

Draconian

S Parameswari, a representative of Gabungan Membantah Akta Pekerjaan, said the amendments would be detrimental to local workers employed in factories because they will have to go through sub-contractors instead of dealing directly with their employers.

“The ultimate implication is that the direct relationship between the workers and the employees will be lost,” she said.

She also pointed out that under the amendments, employers would get an extension of 30 days to remit overtime payment to their workers, compared to seven days under the current law.

Furthermore,  employers will get more freedom in setting working hours. “If they call you up at 3am, then you have to work at that hour,” Parameswari said.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan said the proposed amendments were the most draconian in 40 years of Malaysian industrial history.

“For more than 10 years, civil society has been asking for other policies, such as minimum wage, funds to be given to those who have been retrenched and automatic registration to trade unions, but the government has not passed any of these laws,” he said.

“What they are doing now is making the laws favourable to big corporations.”

He added that workers were beginning to lose faith in the government’s promise to institute a minimum wage regulation.

“We feel that it is not going to happen because minimum wage is opposed by the employers’ federation. They have delayed this for many years and all they do is please the foreign investors.”

Arutchelvan also accused the Najib administration of insensitivity to the rights and needs of the poor in removing subsidies for essential items and proposing the Goods and Services Tax.

“But the government does not touch subsidies to the big corporations,” he said.

Other groups represented at the press conference were Suaram, Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit), Joint Action for Gender Equality (JAG), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and Gabungan Anak Muda dan Pelajar (GAMP).

PRM : Mansuh ISA bukan pinda [Abolish the ISA not amend]废除内安法令，不是修改

Media Statement - 31/7/2010 [Bahasa Melayu, English, Chinese]

Mansuh ISA bukan pinda

Akta Keselamatan  Dalam Negeri atau lebih dikenal dengan nama ISA harus hendak dimansuhkan, bukannya dipinda. Inilah pendirian Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) terhadap ISA semenjak ISA diperkenalkan dan dikuatkuasakan pada 1 Ogos 1960. Pada 1 Ogos 2010, ISA  genap dilaksanakan selama 50 tahun. Pelaksanaan ISA sendirinya  sudah memperlihatkan warna sebenar ISA.

Jika seseorang memandang balik ke masa perdebatan dan hujah-hujah perkenalan ISA pada 1960, adalah amat nyata ISA adalah untuk menangani perjuangan bersenjata komunis. Oleh sebab kerajaan Barisan Nasional telah menandatangani perjanjian damai dengan Parti Komunis Malaya pada 1989, dan Parti Komunis Malaya telah menghentikan perjuangan bersenjatanya, ISA sepatutnya sudah hilang sebab musabab dan asas untuk terus wujud.

Akan tetapi, Kerajaan Barisan Nasional tidak ada  niat untuk memansuhkan ISA. Sebaliknya, Kerajaan Barisan mengemukakan pelbagai dalih untuk menjustifikasikan perlunya ISA supaya kewujudannya disambung-pakai walaupun 50 tahun penggunaan ISA oleh kerajaan Barisan telah menceritakan semuanya iaitu undang-undang boleh menahan seseorang tanpa pembicaraan itu sudah tanpa segan-silu dan terang-terangan disalahgunakan dengan sewenang-wenangnya dan ISA adalah bertentangan dengan  semangat pemerintahan undang-undang (rule of law).

PRM adalah satu-satu party  dengan pendirian konsisten atau tidak berubah-ubah  menentang habis-habisan pelaksanaan ISA. Oleh itu, adalah tidak hairanlah dalam masa 50 tahun pelaksanaan  ISA, beribu-ribu anggota PRM daripada presiden nasional ke lapisan akar umbi menjadi mangsa kezaliman  utama ISA.

Pemimpin-pemimpin nasional PRM seperti Allahyarham Ahmad Boestamam (Presiden, Ahli Parlimen), Tajuddin Kahar (Setiausaha Agung), Hasnul Hadi (Presiden Barisan Sosialis, Pengerusi Majlis Perbandaran Melaka yang dipilih oleh pengundi), dan mendiang Karam Singh (ahli Parlimen), Sivasubramaniam (Adun), dan Tan Hock Heng (Adun) meringkuk bertahun-tahun dalam kem-kem tahanan, antara contohnya Tan Hock Heng  telah ditahan selama 16 tahun dan dibebaskan tanpa syarat)  . Bahkan kebanyakan anggota PRM  sekarang  seperti Pemangku Presiden Ariffin Salimon, Naib Presiden S K Song, Setiausaha Agung Koh Swe Yong dan Bendahari  Teh Soon Ming juga  menghabiskan masa hidup yang terbaik dalam kem tahanan.

Oleh itu, PRM mendesak supaya kerajaan Barisan di bawah kepimpinan Najib Razak memansuhkan  dan bukan membuat pindaan kepada ISA, dan juga undang-undang boleh menahan tanpa pembicaraan lain. Dengan berbuat demikian, kerajaan Barisan boleh menunjukkan amalan bikin serupa cakap dan   memperlihatkan kesungguhan dan betul-betul komited  pada usaha  mentransformasi Malaysia kepada  negara  yang maju dan demokratik.

Yong benar,

Koh Swe Yong

Setiausaha Agung  PRM

012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

31-07-2010

Abolish the ISA not amend

The Internal Security Act or the ISA must be abolished and not amended. This is the  stand of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) or The People’s Party of Malaysia towards the ISA   since the ISA was introduced and in force on the 1 August 1960. By tomorrow, the 1^st of  August 2010, the ISA will have been in force for 50 years and 50 years of the implementation of the ISA   truly reveal its  colours.

If one were to look back into the debates surrounding the arguments for the introduction of the ISA in 1960, it was very obvious that the ISA were meaned to deal with the communists’ armed sstruggle. Since the Barisan Nasional or National Front government had signed a peace accord with the  Communist Party of Malaya in 1989, and the Communist Party of Malaya  ceased its arms struggle,  the ISA has lost the very pretext and reason for its continued existence.

But, the Barisan Nasional Government has no intention to abolish the ISA. Instead, the Barisan  Government looks for   excuses to justify  the need of the ISA and its continued existence eventhough 50-year of the uses of the ISA by the Barisan Government tells all that this peace of the detention without trial law has been grossly and starkly abused and   against the very spirit of rule of laws..

PRM is the only political party that has consistently opposed the ISA and it is no wonder that in the past 50 years thousands of PRM members right from the top national presidents to the very grass roots were the main victims of the ISA.  

PRM national leadership like the  late Ahmad Boestamam( President, MP), Tajuddin Kahar (Secretary General),  Hasnul Hadi (President Sosialis Front, elected Malacca Municipal Council Chairman) , Karam Singh (MP), Sivasubramaniam ( State Assemblyman), Tan Hock Heng (State Assemblyman) have spent years in the detention camps, some as long as 16 years like Tan Hock Heng who was finally released  unconditionally after spending 16years under the ISA detention. Presently, even many of the present members like acting President Ariffin Salimon, Vice President S.K. Song, Secretary General Koh Swe Yong and  Treasurer  Teh Soon Ming and many others  have spent the best part of  their life in detention camps.

Thus, PRM demands that  the Barisan Nasional Government under Najib Razak leadership to abolish and not amend the ISA together with the other detention without trial laws to show that the Barisan Nasional Government walks the talk, and is seriously and genuinely committed to wanting to transform Malaysia into an advance and developed democratic state.

Yours truly,

Koh Swe Yong

Secretary General PRM

012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

31-07-2010

废除内安法令，不是修改

“内安法令必须废除，而不是修改。”

这是马来西亚人民党对内安法令的一贯立场。这个法令在1960年由联盟政府提出并于1960年8月1日正式生效。明天即2010年8月1日内安法令的实行已经50年了。50年的内安法令应用本身已经暴露了内安法令的真正颜色。

如果我们回头看看1960年内安法令在国会提出时的辩论，我们可以很明显地看到，内安法令的提出和订立理由和根据是应付共产党人的武装斗争。由于国阵政府已经在1989年和马来亚共产党签署了和平协议，而马来亚共产党已经停止武装斗争，内安法令便已经失去继续存在的理由和根据。

但是，国阵政府没有任何废除内安法令的意愿，反而提出种种理由和借口作为支持内安法令不能废除的论据，内安法令必须继续存在和使用，虽然国阵政府用了内安法令50年本身 已经说明一切，无需审讯扣留的内安法令已经在毫无羞耻和赤裸裸的状况下，随心所欲被滥用，内安法令也完全违反法制精神。

过去和现在，马来西亚人民党反对内安法令的立场始终是一贯的，是现存政党里唯一一个在内安法令被提出开始，就坚决反对内安法令的。因此，并不令人惊奇，在实施内安法令的50年里，数以千计的人民党党员，从全国主席到基层党员都成为内安法令主要的牺牲品。

人民党全国领导人如已故波斯达曼（主席，国会议员）、达祖丁加哈（总秘书）、哈斯奴哈迪（社阵主席，马六甲民选市议会主席）、卡南星（国会议员）、西华苏伯马廉（州议员）和陈福兴（州议员）等都在内安法令下被扣留无数个年头，有些甚至被留了16年，如陈福兴最终在内安法令下扣留了16年后在无条件下释放。

因此，马来西亚人民党强烈要求以纳吉为首的国阵政府废除，而不是修改内安法令，以及其他的无需审讯扣留法令。如果国阵政府这么行动，可以让人们看到，国阵政府言出必行，并且是认真和真正要把马来西亚改变成为一个先进和发达的民主国家。

马来西亚人民党总秘书

辜瑞荣

012-2766551

21B(F) Jalan SJ 6 Taman Selayang Jaya 68100 Batu Caves Selangor Malaysia

REVOKE EMERGENCY DECLARATION & RESTORE HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW IN THAILAND

Media Statement  26/7/2010

REVOKE EMERGENCY DECLARATION & RESTORE HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW IN THAILAND

We, the undersigned 30 organizations, groups and networks, are extremely perturbed about the deterioration of human rights and universally recognized freedoms in Thailand.

In response to people’s exercise of their freedom of expression, opinion and peaceful protest, the government of Thailand had responded with force and violence, that to date has resulted in about 88 deaths, majority of whom were civilians, and injured some 1,800 people.

On 7/4/2010, the Thai government invoked Thailand's Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation, B.E. 2548 (2005), and placed Bangkok and 23 other provinces under a State of Emergency, allegedly to deal with the anti-government peaceful protests led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship(UDD). The ‘red-shirt’ protest was crushed by the Thai government using the military on 19/5/2010. On 6/7/2010, the Thai government has unreasonably extended the state of emergency in 19 provinces, including Bangkok citing, the reason for doing so was "to prevent possible violent or unlawful activities."

On 13/7/2010, the Thai government announced that the emergency decree in the three southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat for another three months, from July 20 to Oct 19. These regions have been under a state of emergency for the last 5 years.

Thailand's Emergency Decree On Public Administration In Emergency Situation

The declaration of a state of emergency allows the Prime Minister and his Council of Minister wide powers that include prohibition of movement, assembly, peaceful protest,  freedom of expression, flow of information, restriction on press freedom, arrest and detention without trial for up to 30 days, power to summon persons to go to the authorities and/or to produce documents, power to violate privacy of personal communications and to suspend any contact or  communications.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee that considered Thailand’s Emergency Decree, and in their report [CCPR/CO/84/THA/2005] did say that it , “….does not explicitly specify, or place sufficient limits, on the derogations from the rights protected by the Covenant [International Covenant on Civil and Political rights] that may be made in emergencies and does not guarantee full implementation of article 4 of the Covenant.  It is especially concerned that the Decree provides for officials enforcing the state of emergency to be exempt from legal and disciplinary actions, thus exacerbating the problem of impunity.  Detention without external safeguards beyond 48 hours should be prohibited (art. 4)….” As the Emergency Decree has not been amended, these observations are still valid today.

On 18/7/2006, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,  issued a press release calling on Thailand "to repeal emergency regulations that violate human rights law". The Special Rapporteur also noted that the government had "failed to act on previous calls to bring its emergency regulations into compliance with human rights law" and that, "The emergency decree makes it possible for soldiers and police officers get away with murder… Impunity for violence committed by the security forces has been an ongoing problem in Thailand, but the emergency decree has gone even further and makes impunity look like the official policy."

Arrest & Detention

The government, using the powers it has under the Emergency Decree, have arrested and detained over 400 persons without charge for up to 30 days in unofficial places of detention. The Emergency Decree removes the right to challenge a detention before a court (habeas corpus). Moreover, the Emergency Decree fails to provide sufficient protection to prevent abuse and mistreatment. Unlike Thailand's Criminal Procedure Code, the Emergency Decree provides no assurance of prompt access to legal counsel and family members, or effective judicial and administrative safeguards against the mistreatment of detainees, as required by international law.

What is most disturbing is that these arrests are still continuing, and it has now extended to persons who were not even directly involved in the unrest but also persons who have expressed some opinion on the situation in Thailand. Human Rights Watch recently also stated that they have “…received disturbing reports that journalists, photographers, and medical volunteers have also been ordered to report to the authorities after they publicly stated that they witnessed abuses committed by the security forces.”

The numbers of persons that have been arrested by reason of a violation of a Regulation, Notification or Order under the Emergency Decree, which is an offence that, if convicted, carries a penalty of ‘…imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not more than forty- thousand baht, or to both…’.  is also not known.

Press Freedom & Freedom Of Expression

The right to freedom of expression is essential for the functioning of democracy and guaranteeing other fundamental human rights. However, section 9(3) of the Emergency Decree allows censorship for extremely vague reasons such as "causing misunderstanding of the emergency or affecting the public morals of the people", which can easily be used to limit legitimate political expression. We are troubled by the fact that the government’s Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situations (CRES) has applied restrictions on free expression rights both in the area where an emergency situation has been declared and throughout the entire country. There are reports that more than 1,000 websites, a satellite television station(PTV), online television channels, newspapers, magazines, and community radio stations have been closed down.

PTV (also known as People Channel), a satellite TV station, has been closed under the state of emergency.

The government had also blocked at least 36 websites under the state or emergency  including Prachatai (www.prachatai.com), Sameskybooks (www.sameskybooks.org), Norporchorusa (www.norporchorusa.com) and Weareallhuman (www.weareallhuman.net). It is said that the order came from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MICT). Any attempt to access the affected sites from within Thailand yields the message “This website has been blocked by ICT & TOT.”

The recent violence has also resulted in the deaths of 2 foreign journalists, Hiroyuki Muramoto and Fabio Polenghi and injuries to at least 8 other journalist. The recent Investigation Report issued by Reporters Without Borders in July 2010 entitled ‘Thailand License to Kill’ raises much unanswered questions about actions of the Thai military and other unidentified persons during the recent unrest. It is disturbing to note that to note that autopsies are still not available, and investigations into these incidents have yet to be completed.

On 13/7/2010, Prachatai said that as the government was hunting for people making comments online, it had decided to close the web board for the safety of users. This is yet another example of the killing freedom of expression and violation of privacy in Thailand using the Emergency Decree. 

Transparency requires that the Thai government reveals in detail the list of websites, blogs, e-mail accounts and other internet services that they have invaded, hacked and/or tampered with in its exercise of the powers it has under the Emergency Decree.

Independent Inquiry

There is a need that there be an independent inquiry into all the deaths, injuries and damages to property caused during the recent unrest. It is not proper and will be unsatisfactory for the Thai government to have their own internal investigations, given also the fact that many of the accusation of wrong doing seem to be levied against the current government and its military. It may be best that the United Nations or the ASEAN, be called to conduct an open public inquiry into the unrest, which must definitely include separate inquiries into each of the deaths and serious injury cases. Alternatively, an international panel of reputed persons could be tasked to do this.

This inquiry must also try to identify the alleged armed persons, who the Thai government claims are part of the red shirt protesters, and is the justification for the use of live bullets in the crackdown on the protesters. The inquiry must also identify those responsible for the actions of damaging public and private property. The possibility that ‘agent provocateurs’ were involved must be considered.   

In the interim, Thailand must assure that the evidence is not tampered with and/or destroyed. Proper autopsies need to be conducted. It was disturbing to note that in the case of  Fabio Polenghi, the Italian photographer, his body was cremated even before the family members were supplied with a thorough autopsy – thus, depriving them the right to request/conduct a second autopsy.

Adequate Compensation For Victims

Whilst the Emergency Decree states the officials protects from ‘civil, criminal or disciplinary liabilities’, it  ‘…does not preclude the right of a victim to seek compensation from a government agency under the law on liability for wrongful act of officials…’ A closer reading states that these persons are not protected if their actions/omissions were not done in good faith or was discriminatory or excessive or unreasonable. There should be no protection certainly for those who shot unarmed persons, and in some cases more than once. There should be no justification for the shooting of medical personnel and members of the press.

As such, we the undersigned  organizations, groups and networks called upon the government of Thailand to :-

*          Immediately revoke the declaration of emergencies in Thailand;

*          Immediately and unconditionally release all persons detained under the Emergency Decrees;

*          Restore full press freedom and freedom of expression by allowing all television/radio stations, publications, media portals, blogs, etc, especially those that were shut down by reason of the Emergency Decree and/or the recent fiasco in Thailand, to immediately function normally without any conditions and/or restrictions.

*          Reveal in detail the list of websites, blogs, e-mail accounts and other internet services that they have invaded, hacked and/or tampered with in its exercise of the powers it has under the Emergency Decree, and  provide adequate compensation.

*          Constitute an independent international panel of inquiry to conduct an open public inquiry into the unrest, which must definitely include separate inquiries into each of the deaths and serious injury cases.

*          Pay adequate compensation for the loss of life and injury to victims and/or their families/dependents during this fiasco,

*          Pay adequate compensation for the deprivation of liberty under the Emergency Decree, 

*          Pay adequate compensation for loss and damage of property, including also loss of business and/or income which was caused by reason of actions and/or omissions of the government and its officials during this fiasco and/or during the period of Emergency,

*          Repeal immediately the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation, B.E. 2548 (2005)

Charles Hector

For and on behalf of the following 30 organisations

ALIRAN, Malaysia

Asia Pacific Mission For Migrants

Asia Pacific Research Network

Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA)

Association Of Indonesian Migrant Workers In Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Burma Campaign Malaysia

Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), Malaysia

Clean Clothes Campaign - International Secretariat

Community Development Centre (CDC), Malaysia

Friends of Asia, South Korea

IMA Research Foundation, Bangladesh

JERIT (Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas), Malaysia

Labour behind the Label

Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET)

Migrants Center in Gyeonsan, South Korea

Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)

Migrants Trade Union( MTU), South Korea

Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)

Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)

Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS), Malaysia

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor, Malaysia

Pusat KOMAS, Malaysia

Shan Refugee Organization (SRO) Malaysia

Solidarity with Migrants, South Korea

Tenaganita, Malaysia

The Filipino Women's Organization in Quebec

UCCP CO-mission worker with PRRK, Philippines

Writer Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI), Malaysia

Workers Hub For Change (WH4C)

Working People Association, Indonesia

Human Rights Party, PRM should join others in the struggle

Human Rights Party, PRM should join others in the struggle

Saturday, 26 June 2010 00:00

In the absence of a proportional representation system, the best strategy for any small party is to work together with other parties under a collective desire to get rid of injustices - and in the process touch the hearts of the long-suffering poor, says Choo Sing Chye.

As the general election looms closer, I would by most humble means try to provide some comments on the Human Rights Party’s (HRP) and Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s (PRM) strategies in the coming elections.

Your party's 15/38 strategy "to create, win in and create politically empowered 15 parliamentary and 38 state Indian majority seats" and Koh Swe Yong, secretary-general of PRM's plan (The Star, 7 June 2010) to contest as many seats as possible in the coming elections will test or better still crack the iron-clad feudal first-past-the-post electoral system to ‘empower’ the minorities – this had never happened before in history, either in Malaysia or in Great Britain.

One of the main factors that makes British politics lag behind other European countries is the first-past-the post electoral system.

Many political scientists had described this first-past-the-post electoral system as faulty. Is this the reason why: in the 1983 British General Election, the Conservatives won only 40 per cent of the votes but obtained 60 per cent of the Commons seats. [1]

The first-past-the-post electoral system is the most undemocratic electoral system ever devised and it is ludicrous that it is still in existence today. It has never given the minority a voice like yours a chance to flourish in our political system. It should have disappeared long ago along with the ending of the feudal system in Great Britain.

Any good electoral system should encompass the principle of ‘one person, one vote, one value', but unfortunately it is not to be in the case of first-past-the-post system. Sadly we are stuck with this deformed electoral system, which we inherited since Merdeka from the British.

In Great Britain, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - or as most Malaysians might call ‘the third force’ - has been consistently unrepresented, "gaining about 30 per cent of the votes in some elections but no more than just over 1 per cent of the seats (in the region of 20 to 30 seats") [2]

The 1992 British general election saw the LDP securing more than 20 per cent of the votes, winning only a measly 20 seats. Ironically, the Labour Party, which secured only 34.4 per cent of the votes, won 271 seats in the House of Commons. [3]

If the principle of one person, one vote, one value were to be applied to this election, LDP should have got around 130 seats instead of 20. It thus lost out on a whooping 110 seats in the 1992 general election alone. In turn, the Labour Party should have got around 224 seats and not 271.

Apparently it took less than 40,000 votes for one Conservative MP to be voted in, slightly more than 40,000 for a Labour MP but for the Liberal/Alliance (only in 1983) it needed more the 338,000 votes (seven times as many votes) just to get an MP into the House of Commons. [4]

In Pennsylvania, USA, in 1924 the Republican Party won about one million votes and took 36 seats in the state election, while the Democrat Party won over half a million votes and took not even a single seat. [5]

In the case of Malaysia, where the first-past-the-post system is coupled with the lopsided media, the biased Election Commission has kept Barisan Nasional in power for the last 50 over years.

In our country, as it is known that there is not a single Indian majority seat. Not because it has none. It is the product of Barisan Nasional’s gerrymandering.

Here is one example, the Buntong State seat (Perak) has a voters’ population of 21,682 (Malays 6.1 per cent, Chinese 47 per cent, Indians 46.2 per cent). Compare this with the Pengkalan Hulu seat won by Former Menteri Besar, Tajol Rosli which has only 11,717 voters (Malay 72.6 per cent, Chinese 12.1 per cent Indians 9.3 %). In other words, the vote value of Pengkalan Hulu is twice that of Buntong’s.

If the concept of one value is applied, Buntong should be split into two constituencies – one with a Chinese majority and the other with an Indian majority. In the Indian majority seat, there would be at least 50 over per cent of Indian voters.

With the Barisan Nasional’s gerrymandering and the unfair first-past-the-post system what chance have we got? Our voices will always remain unheard. In contrast, this unfairness benefits the super rich Malays, Chinese and Indians.

To replace the first-past-the-post system with a Proportional Voting system is near impossible. Although this system sees a fairer distribution of votes and the votes cast reflect closely with the seats won, nobody in Barisan Nasional wants it for it will spell the end to its monopoly on political power.

The only way out for any party is to evolve into a coercive group and to move forward under one collective desire to get rid of injustices and in the process, similar to Mahatma Gandhi’s direct democracy, touch the hearts of the long-suffering poor Malays, Chinese, Indians and the East Malaysians with compassion, sincerity, openness and fairness, without planting the seeds of hatred along the way.-

Of Local Council Elections, PRM, Labour Party of Malaya and the Socialist Front(SF)

This is an article from ALIRAN  that reminds us not only about what happened to Local Council elections, but also about significant role played by Parti Rakyat Malaysia(PRM) as a political party, and as part of the Socialist Front together with the Labour Party of Malaya. Let us not forget history...and let history renew our commitment in our struggle for a better Malaysia...

Restoring the Third Vote, reclaiming our democracy

Friday, 09 July 2010 18:31

If the Local Government Act stands in the way of local government elections, then it must go. It is not because we are lawless but because we value democracy, writes Tan Pek Leng. The fate of local elections in Malaysia is a sad reflection of the state of democracy in the country. Never having had the chance to be firmly rooted, it was rudely trampled upon when it attempted to grow, leaving it mangled, hidup segan mati tak mahu. A testimony of our failed state is how our democratic rights are reversed rather than advanced. The third vote, our constitutional birth right as a nation, was forcibly taken away - no, not in the interest of the citizenry, but as a political expediency by the ruling coalition to cripple the legitimate Opposition. More than half a century after Independence, we are battling to get back to square one – to get back this third vote. Much of the recent discourse on how to restore local elections revolves around what the law allows and what it doesn’t. “Does Section 15 of the Local Government Act 1976 (LGA) override the Local Government Election Act 1960 (LGEA) and thus prohibit all local elections?” “Does Section 1 of the LGA exempt the State Governments from the restrictions imposed by Section 15 of the same act and thus allow them to invoke the LGEA to restore local elections?” This legal conundrum appears to have got the Pakatan Rakyat State Governments tangled in knots for a while. The Perak and Selangor state governments attempted to cut the Gordian Knot by asking the Elections Commission (EC) to conduct local elections in their respective states, only to be told by the EC that this would be against the law. The question is: why are we allowing ourselves to be dictated by a piece of legislation of such questionable legitimacy? A look at the process that culminated in the promulgation of the LGA will lay bare the many anti-democratic acts that abetted it. Thirteen years of local elections It is the height of irony that the Umno-MCA coalition (the precursor to the Umno-MCA-MIC Alliance and subsequently the Barisan Nasional) first laid claim to fame in the 1952 Kuala Lumpur municipal elections, when it won nine of the 11 seats. The Alliance continued to perform well for the next few years because the opposition parties had yet to consolidate themselves. The tide began to turn by the end of 1956, however, when the Alliance suffered unexpected defeats in local elections in Penang and Melaka. The Penang debacle, in which the Alliance failed to win a single of the eight seats contested, was attributed primarily to the harsh action taken to crush the Chung Ling High School students’ protest against the conversion of their school into a national-type school. The downward slide continued and by the December 1957 local polls, the Socialist Front (SF) – a coalition of the Labour Party of Malaya (LPM) and the Party Rakyat Malaya (PRM) – had gained enough seats to take over the Penang City Council. In this series of local elections, the Alliance garnered 18 seats, less than half of the 37 contested. A year later, the trend was reversed, with the Alliance doing better than they themselves expected, clinching victory in four of the five contested seats in Penang. But how credible were these wins? The names of so many previously registered voters were missing from the electoral rolls in George Town, Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam that the EC contemplated postponing the elections for these councils. To be fair, though, the raising of assessment rates by the SF-controlled Penang City Council and the splitting of opposition votes by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) contributed to the Alliance success. The Alliance achieved a similar apparent triumph in the Kuala Lumpur local elections of 1958, winning three out of four wards. However, the total opposition votes in the four wards were greater than the Alliance votes. Once again, dissipation of votes among the opposition parties had handed the victory to the ruling coalition. Overall, the Alliance took 43 of the 57 contested seats as well as 19 unopposed ones in the 1958 series of local elections. On the face of it, this ostensible Alliance dominance continued through to the 1960s – with them winning 430 seats to the Opposition’s 148 in the 1961 local elections and 449 seats to the Opposition’s 184 in 1963. Examining the popular vote garnered, though, tells an entirely different story. In 1961, the Alliance obtained 218,428 of the votes cast compared to 227,104 for the Opposition; in 1963, it was 251,970 votes for the Alliance versus 263,000 votes for the Opposition. In both cases, the Alliance had won less than half the popular vote but more than double the number of seats. Gerrymandering was already well entrenched within a few years of Independence. Having the upper hand in the numbers game did not satisfy the Alliance; it irked them that the choice urban councils were out of their grasp. First, the Penang City Council in 1958; then, the Melaka Municipal Council in 1961; followed by the Seremban, Kluang and Bentong Municipal Councils in 1963 came under the control of the SF. The PPP had also taken a firm grip on Ipoh by 1961. Under the pretext of the volatile political climate engendered by the Confrontation with Indonesia, the Alliance Government suspended local elections on 1 March 1965. The Speaker refused to allow a motion by the SF Members of Parliament calling for a debate on the issue. But this supposedly precarious political situation had not prevented the government from holding state and parliamentary elections in 1964. The Alliance realised that the Opposition was better able to win control of local councils than state or parliamentary constituencies and was certainly not keen to allow them free play on these platforms. War of attrition The foul means adopted by the Alliance to stem the challenge of the Opposition was not limited to electoral sleight of hand. Detention without trial put many experienced cadres of the SF (then the strongest opposition party) out of action, threw the party organisation into disarray and weakened its capacity to play a meaningful part in the electoral process. The first mass arrest of political opponents took place only a little more than a year after Merdeka, on 1 October 1958, with the detention of 109 persons. The situation did not improve after the end of the Emergency in 1960 as the Internal Security Act (ISA) was introduced to allow the government to continue the practice of detention without trial. SF leaders and members were frequent victims of the ISA throughout the 1960s, in big operations or small. Among the instances of mass arrests that targeted large numbers of SF, in particular LPM, members were those executed: •    between November 1960 and February 1961, with a total of 60 persons arrested, including SF leaders and local councillors; •    in December 1962, when more than 50 persons were arrested throughout Malaya as a prelude to the formation of Malaysia and the Operation Cold Store, which decimated the Left in Singapore with the arrest of more than 120 political leaders and trade unionists; •    in March and June 1964, at the height of the Confrontation with Indonesia, when Malay leaders from the SF and Pas were the main targets, but many LPM state and branch level leaders were also nabbed; •    in the early months of 1966 when about 50 LPM and PRM cadres were arrested (SF had split up in December 1965); •    on 25 October 1966, when about 100 members of LPM and PRM were arrested following demonstrations organised by the two parties against US President Lyndon Johnson during his visit to Malaysia. Between 1966 and 1968, an estimated 250 protests and demonstrations were held in various parts of the country, each to be met with repression and arrests; •    on 9-14 November 1968, when some 140 LPM, PRM and trade union cadres were detained following the confessions of former LPM National Chairman Koh Kay Cham and Assistant Secretary-General Loh Yuen Wah upon their release from ISA detention. As in 1967, not a month passed in 1968 without the detention of dissidents. •    in the aftermath of the May 13 riots of 1969, when the government once again found the excuse to decimate the LPM and PRM further through arrests of their leaders and members. The arrests were systematically and strategically deployed to deprive the SF of its leaders and more experienced cadres at the national, state and branch levels. This was combined with the banning of certain divisions and branches of the Front. The continuous lopping off of the leadership echelons left the organisational structure of the LPM, in particular, in shambles and a combination of bans on political grounds and deregi-strations on administrative technicalities reduced the number of LPM branches from 224 in 1967 to 24 by 1972. The party was finally deregistered by order of the Registrar of Societies on 6 September 1972. Eleven years of suspension Suspending local elections may have prevented the Opposition from making further inroads into the local councils, but it did not return the “lost” councils to the Alliance. How more efficiently can they wrest back these councils than by Executive decree? Whether it was legitimate did not enter into the discussion. The case of Penang was instructive. D S Ramanathan, former Chairman of LPM and the first Mayor of Penang, peeved with the party by 1963, accused the SF-controlled City Council of corruption and malpractices. The Alliance government could not move against the council yet as it was still firmly in the grip of the SF. The opportunity arose in January 1966 when the SF lost control of the council after another of its former stalwarts and Penang Mayor, Ooi Thiam Siew, quit the party and the PRM councillor chose to align with him. It was a godsend for Chief Minister, Wong Pow Nee, who immediately constituted a commission to inquire into the allegations brought forth by Ramanathan, although he had professed that he could offer no evidence for them. On 1 July 1966, three days before the commission was to commence its probe, Wong Pow Nee announced that the State Government would take over the functions of the City Council. The commission completed its inquiry in November 1967 and found that “although there were irregularities and inefficiencies in the council’s administration, there was no hard evidence of outright bribery”. When calls were made for the City Council to be reconvened as the reasons for its temporary suspension no longer existed, the State Government announced that they had no intention to relinquish control of the Council until fresh elections were held. And how was that to happen when local elections had been suspended indefinitely? Another trick deployed by the Alliance is one we are now very familiar with – enticing defections. It worked its magic in Melaka. On 24 March 1965, three SF members of the Melaka Municipal Council declared they were turning Independents; six days later, one of them was installed as the Deputy President. This was a very significant appointment as the President, Hasnul Hadi of the SF, was then in detention. But the defections were not sufficient to deprive the SF of their control over the council. The final coup took place in September 1966 with the takeover of the council by the Melaka State Government. The respective State Governments similarly imposed their illegitimate hold over the Seremban, Johore Bharu and Bentong Municipal Councils – the takeover of the Melaka and Bentong Councils occurring after the official termination of Confrontation in August 1966. Further, the end of the Confrontation did not mean the end of the suspension of local elections although the conflict was the sole reason cited for putting them on hold. The clamour in Parliament and State Assemblies for the reinstitution of local elections fell on deaf ears. The Athi Nahappan Commission The Federal Government had other plans in mind. In June 1965, three months after the suspension of local elections, they appointed the Athi Nahappan Commission to look into the functioning and administration of the local councils, purportedly with a view to improving and streamlining them. To the chagrin of the Alliance Government, the Commission’s report, completed in December 1968, strongly supported local elections. Instead of implementing the recommendations of the Commission, the Federal Government appointed a Cabinet Committee to study the implications of the Athi Nahappan Report. The Committee was also a disappointment to the Government because it endorsed most of the recommendations of the Commission, including the one on local elections. The Alliance Government went for a third strike: instructing the Development Administration Unit (DAU) of the Prime Minister’s Department to undertake a further study. The pliant DAU, in 1971, advocated setting aside the recommendations of the Athi Nahappan Commission. With this spurious justification, the LGA was drafted and passed into law in 1976. By that time, most of the opposition parties had been co-opted into the Barisan Nasional (BN), formed in 1973, and there was no effective voice left to raise objections against the passage of the Act. 34 years of ban Throughout the three decades and more since the LGA denied us our fundamental right to the third vote, the issue has not died away. Unfortunately, with the BN’s overwhelming dominance in the Parliament, the demands for the restoration of local elections have been treated as mere irritants, undeserving of attention. It was only with the tsunami of 8 March 2008 turning the tide that the issue has received a new lease of life. Hence, the momentum must not slack. Why must we keep the issue alive? Because the chronicle of the abolition of the third vote is reflective of the larger narrative of the steady subversion of democratic institutions in the country. The underhand tactics deployed by the ruling coalition to dismantle popularly elected local governments are similarly used to undermine democracy at the state and national levels: •    The consistent use of the ISA to emasculate the Opposition; •    The tampering of electoral rolls, be it to make registered voters vanish or phantom voters appear; •    Gerrymandering to ensure that they get more seats than they deserve based on the number of votes garnered; •    The use of their strength of numbers to bulldoze through legislative and constitutional amendments which are to their advantage, no matter how undemocratic; •    The resort to Executive decree when the popular will cannot be bent to their favour. Not to continue campaigning against the illegitimate deprivation of the third vote is therefore risking similar subversion of the first and second. ... still counting The campaign is only just picking up momentum, the project is very much a work in progress. There is no telling how much longer it will take to restore local elections. But one thing is for sure, if we do not keep the pressure on, we will have many more years to count before the ban is lifted – or worse yet, have all hopes snuffed out.                                                Another thing is for sure: the LGA has no business obstructing us from reclaiming full democracy. If this law stands in the way, this law must go. It is not because we are lawless but because we value democracy. Tan Pek Leng is an Aliran member