Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) and DAP today called for the government to allow the return of former Communist leader Chin Peng, who has spent more than 40 years in exile.

In a joint statement today, Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her deputy Dr Syed Husin Ali said former Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) guerillas should be allowed to return since the ideological divide between them and the government has long since disappeared.

"The Cold War between the East and West has been over for a long time. It is time for national reconciliation and time to close a chapter of our nation's history," they said.

"Chin Peng should be allowed back to pay respects to his deceased parents and ancestors who are buried in Malaysia. This is a good and positive value of all races in Malaysia."

Honour the accord

Meanwhile DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang said that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad must allow Chin Peng to return to Malaysia before his retirement in October.

"If Mahathir does not honour the spirit of the 1989 Haadyai Peace Accord before relinquishing office, it is unlikely that his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would have the political confidence and authority to do so, until quite a considerable time," said Lim in a statement.

Lim also said that the government should explain as to why Chin Peng has not been allowed to return in the past 14 years.

Lim quoted a chapter from Chin Peng's memoirs in which the communist leader had said that his application in 1990 to settle down in Malaysia was rejected a year later and that he has been waiting since then for the authorities to allow him at least a "sightseeing tour" of his hometown

The 11th secretary-general of the once powerful CPM has hit the headlines after many years with the recent publication of his long-anticipated biography titled 'Alias Chin Peng: My Side of History'.

Distribution of the book was held up briefly by the Home Ministry, but it has since been approved for sale in Malaysia. It is ranked No.2 on the Kuala Lumpur Kinokuniya current bestsellers' list.

Although Chin Peng, 79, was earlier expected to launch his memoirs in Perak (his home state), the organiser - historical society Perak Academy - scrapped the event following objections from the Home Ministry.

Other visits

Commenting further, Wan Azizah and Syed Husin said Chin Peng should not be denied entry into Malaysia, because several other key CPM leaders had been able to visit without problems.

"We are aware that in the recent past, many other CPM leaders, including Abdullah CD and Rashid Maidin, have been allowed to return to visit friends and relatives in Malaysia. In fact, one of them was invited by a Sultan as guest at a dinner," they said.

In addition, the two leaders pointed out that other Communist dignitaries, including those from China and Cuba, have been welcomed as state guests in Malaysia.

Malaysia has in recent years welcomed high-profile guests from the few remaining communist states.

Among them are the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping who paid a state visit to Kuala Lumpur in 1978, Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong in 1998 and Cuban President Fidel Castro in 2001.

Most wanted man

Meanwhile, the opposition leaders also commended the government for not banning Chin Peng's memoirs.

"It is only the right decision as Malaysians are now mature enough to make judgements for themselves after reading what Chin Peng says is his side of history," said Keadilan leaders.

Lim meanwhile said Chin Peng's memoirs was a "must read" for all political leaders and Malaysians to understand an important part of Malaysian history.

Chin Peng, a nom de guerre of Ong Boon Hua, led the CPM in a relentless struggle against British colonialism, the Japanese occupation and the newly independent governments of both Malaysia and Singapore for over half a century.

The party's armed struggle, which began in June 1948, ended with a peace agreement signed between CPM and the governments of Malaysia and Thailand in 1989.

During the communist insurgency, the government offered an award of up to $250,000 (Straits dollars) for Chin Peng - the country's most wanted man for 40 years - dead or alive. The former guerilla fighter now lives in Bangkok.

Under the peace agreement, Chin Peng is allowed to visit Malaysia only with prior approval from the Home Ministry.

To date, the former guerilla leader who grew up in Sitiawan, a small town in Perak, has not be able to obtain permission to return to his home country.

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