If the government is serious in pursuing a more democratic and open Malaysia, then the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) should be abolished too.

perkasa burn the star 140811 ibrahim ali "If they abolish the Internal Security Act (ISA) and say that there are enough existing provisions in other laws, then the UUCA and OSA should also be repealed," Malay rights NGO Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali ( right ) told reporters today.

Speaking after an emergency meeting of the movement's 40-member supreme council in Kuala Lumpur, Ibrahim explained that if the government is sincere in pursuing more transparent laws and policies, then those two legal stumbling blocks must also be removed.

"If you want to be transparent, then you must do it properly, that is what we call a guided democracy," said Ibrahim.

The UUCA has long been said to be used to suppress student involvement in activism and politics, and was seen by some to be as oppressive as the draconian ISA.

As for the OSA, it allows authorities to take action against anyone who even mentions details of government documents.

Any government document can be declared an official secret.

The act has been criticised for being used to sweep government dirty laundry under the carpet rather than any real security concerns.

Delegation to see Hishammuddin 

Ibrahim was delivering the Perkasa supreme council's official stand after its three-hour meeting to discuss the abolition of the ISA announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak during his live Malaysia Day address, on Thursday.

NONE Ibrahim said that the NGO will also send a delegation to see Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein ( right ) as soon as possible in order to discuss the new laws that will replace ISA.

Ibrahim argued that any new law tabled must incorporate ISA's preventive elements in order to give the police the tools necessary to keep the peace.

Indeed he said that the new law must strengthen those preventive elements to give police a free hand in handling issues that infringes on Islam or the special rights of the bumiputera as enshrined in article 153 of the constitution.

"If the new law does not incorporate the preventive elements, then we will reject it totally," threatened the Perkasa president.

He cautioned the government not to listen to the opposition who are already making demands on what should be in the new law, adding that the government should also disregard its political inclination to pander for votes.

Instead, the Pasir Mas MP wants the government to listen to the police who are the custodians of the peace and knows what it takes to keep safe our nation, as well as to the rakyat, for whom "security is an inalienable right".

Perkasa, he alluded, is a representative of the rakyat, thus should be given an ear to by the home minister and the government of the day.

"Perkasa with its representation can claim that we are the voice of the rakyat, we represent the silent majority," claimed Ibrahim.

The NGO also voiced its support of the repeal of the emergency declarations as "It is no longer relevant" and supported the amendments to the Printing Presses and Publication Act to remove the need for the annually renewed publication license.

However Ibrahim said that they are more cautious with the amendments to the Police Act to allow freedom of assembly pending actual study of what and how is it going to be implemented, as gatherings while tied to democratic rights, also has security implications.

He said that the supreme council which numbers eight prominent lawyers and a law expert among them, will monitor the developments before proceeding further.