As Egypt revels in its newfound freedom from dictator Hosni Mubarak’s regime, Malaysia’s opposition front shot a fresh reminder to the new administration to avoid making the same mistakes.

NONE A group of 15 leaders from Pakatan Rakyat and a clutch of NGOs paid a short visit to the Egyptian embassy to pass on a memorandum congratulating the people of Egypt on toppling Mubarak, who had held the reins of power for three decades.

The memorandum also relayed the hope that Egypt will have free elections to install a new government, which should uphold democracy and act against police officers who discharged ‘live’ bullets, injuring and killing protestors.

Among those present were PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and its vice-president Tian Chua, PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar and central committee member Muhamad Sabu, PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan, and representatives of the Anti-ISA Movement and the Malaysian National Islamic Students Association.

Yesterday, Egypt’s military dismantled Mubarak’s regime, dissolving Parliament, suspending the constitution and promising a referendum on political reform.

Police 'broadly despised'

AFP reported  today that the generals leading the new regime have set a six-month timeframe to prepare for democratic elections, and that there will also be a panel to rewrite the constitution and submit it to a referendum.

egypt the day after mubarak overthrow celebration 1 The military assumed control of Egypt last Friday after Mubarak stepped down as president, following three weeks of intense protests that saw millions of Egyptians take to the famed Tahrir square and march on the presidential palace demanding that he quit.

There were scuffles between troops and police officers protesting to restore their reputation and win pay rises, as 1,500 members of the police force called for the public execution of former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly.

AFP also reported that the police are broadly despised and seen as brutal and corrupt, especially after numerous accusations of being responsible for stirring unrest among protesters during earlier rallies.

DAP vice-chairperson M Kulasegaran ( right ), meanwhile, echoed his colleagues in Pakatan to congratulate the Egyptians for their "great and courageous victory " for fighting "against all odds."

maika holding shareholders meeting 300807 kulasegaran "The Egyptians’ victory against the dictator has also shown the power of social networking media and Internet tools in organising and mobilising people," said the Ipoh Barat parliamentarian in a statement.

Responding to the warning issued by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last week against attempts to compare conditions in Egypt to Malaysia and to usurp power using demonstrations, Kulasegaran asked what pushed Najib to issue such an "unnecessary warning".

"Opposition parties have been fighting through the ballot boxes for decades and we will aim to achieve our target of bringing about a better society for all though the electoral process.

M'sians, Egyptians different but the same

While it is true that the conditions in Egypt and Malaysia are not completely similar, there is the common desire among people in Malaysia who want change for the better, said Kulasegaran.

"In Malaysia, the desire of the voters for change has resulted in the BN suffering its most unprecedented and unexpected electoral debacle, losing its traditional parliamentary majority in the Dewan Rakyat as well the governmental power to rule in five states.

"Malaysians’ power lies in their votes. In a democracy, change will be brought about through the ballot boxes and Pakatan Rakyat is determined to call on the people to vote for change in the next general election."

Turning to the opposition coalition, Kulasegaran said just as Egyptians had maximised the use of social networking and Internet tools, Pakatan must also maximise the effective use of these tools to effectively spread the message of change to voters.

He called on the Pakatan leadership council to set up a 'seat negotiation committee' to begin the process of negotiations and, if need be, discuss the swapping of seats.