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 being in force on Aug 1, 1960. On Aug 1, 2010, the ISA will have been in force for 50 years and 50 years of the implementation of the ISA have truly revealed its colours.

If one were to look back into the debates surrounding the arguments for the introduction of the ISA in 1960s, it was very obvious that the ISA were meant to deal with the communists’ armed struggle. 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 has ceased its armed 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 even though the 50 years of the use of the ISA by the Barisan government tells all that this piece of detention without trial law has been grossly and starkly abused and is against the very spirit of rule of law.

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 grassroots have been 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 chairperson), Karam Singh (MP), Sivasubramaniam (state assemblyperson), Tan Hock Heng (state assemblyperson) have spent years in the detention camps, some as long as 16 years like Tan Hock Heng who was finally released  unconditionally after spending 16 years under ISA detention.

Presently, even many of the present members like acting president Ariffin Salimon, vice- president SK Song, myself 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 the Najib Abdul Razak leadership abolish and not amend the ISA together with 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 advanced and developed democratic state.

The writer is secretary-general, Parti Rakyat Malaysia.