Opposition party DAP today expressed scepticism over a pledge that a decades-old ban on election rallies will be lifted ahead of the next vote, expected within a year.

DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang said the announcement by the Election Commission was worthless without the backing of the police, who imposed the ban in the first place.

Lim called the statement "an empty gesture without police endorsement and guarantee as it was the police and not the Election Commission which banned public rallies 25 years ago".

At the time, the ban was said to be a temporary measure but it has remained in place for a quarter of a century "in utter violation of the fundamental human rights of freedom of speech and assembly", he said.

"The ban has been one of the black spots of police and government abuses of power and human rights violations in the past 25 years," Lim said in a statement.

Green light from police

Public rallies were temporarily suspended in the 21 months of emergency rule after political riots in 1969, but they were held between 1971 and 1978 before being banned again, he said.

In 1978, the then inspector general of police Hanif Omar had announced the total ban on all open public rallies citing several security reasons, including the alleged 30th anniversary of the Communist Party of Malaya's armed struggle.

The commission announced that election rallies would be allowed ahead of the next polls to ensure a more democratic process.

The government is widely anticipated to call elections before the middle of next year although the current five-year term expires November 2004.

Commission chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper that police have given the green light for the rallies, but that organisers would be required to obtain police permits.

The commission did not make any mention of a ban on political gatherings held outside an election campaign period. At present any such gathering must be approved by police or be considered as illegal assembly. - AFP