Kedah PKR wants the prime minister to set up a bipartisan parliamentary select committee to draft the two laws that will replace the Internal Security Act (ISA).

NONE The party’s legal bureau chief Gooi Hsiao Leung (left) said this is necessary if Najib is indeed serious about democratic reform.

"Direct public feedback and meaningful participation must be allowed to the rakyat on these important laws to be changed," Gooi told a press conference in Alor Setar today.

He also said PKR and the people will monitor Najib and the BN, to see how they act on intentions declared on Sept 15 to abolish the ISA, among other measures.

The Police Act is to be amended to allow peaceful assembly, while the Printing and Publications Act will remove the requirement for annual renewal of permits.

However, this has already attracted much scepticism about the real extent of reform that can be anticipated.

najib special address malaysia day 150911 Gooi also said Najib’s announcement to repeal the ISA and review the Police Act is "clear acknowledgment of the resounding success" of the Bersih 2.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur on July 9.

Najib's decision also signals the failure of the police to stifle demands and to break the spirit of the rakyat in reclaiming the public space, he said.

"(He) cannot just ... wish away the Bersih 2.0  protest (or deny that it did not influence) him to make the announcement. It would be silly for anyone to assume that Najib, before the July 9 protest, was an innocent lamb.”

‘Mindless crackdown’

Gooi said Najib’s assertion, that “ public demonstration is not part of Malaysian culture”, still rings loud and clear, and that the premier had been supported by the police in their "mindless war and crackdown" against Bersih 2.0.

azlan The ‘yellow shirt’ effort had been a move to exercise a legitimate right to hold a peaceful rally in a democratic society, he said.

And it is “a joke” that, in just over two months, Najib now preaches greater freedom of assembly and vow to practise the 'best democracy ' in the world.

"Najib cannot expect the people to take him seriously by claiming that his intention to repeal and review 50-year-old repressive laws is (not due to) pressure from anyone.

"Every Malaysian knows that Najib and the BN, since March 8, 2008 and Bersih 2.0 lately, have been under great pressure to change or be booted out from Putrajaya.”

Gooi urged the government and the police to immediately drop all charges against those arrested around the country in connection with Bersih 2.0 rally.

The police should also return all items seized from PKR activists who had been arrested in connection with the mega-rally in Alor Setar on July 2.

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