Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang will debate on the Internal Security Act (ISA) on July 11.

Nazri, who oversees parliamentary affairs, said the venue for the debate would most probably be the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur.

"We have met with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) to be the organiser of the debate," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

The minister said he had proposed that the debate be for 90 minutes followed by a break. Subsequentlly, there will be a question and answer session.

Alternative views

Contacted this evening, Lim, who is also DAP chairperson, confirmed that the debate will take place on the abovementioned date.

He said Nazri, during his parliamentary winding-up speech on Monday, had 'taken a swipe at him' for criticising the security law as being draconian.

"A verbal exchange ensued," said Lim, adding that he then challenged the minister to a public debate on the ISA, to which the latter agreed.

Responding to a question, the veteran opposition leader welcomed the new culture of ministers willing to hear alternative views.

"The government should be more open, transparent and justify their actions," added, Lim who had been arrested twice under the security law in 1969 and 1987.

He said this new attitude was a praiseworthy shift from the previous policy of 'take it or leave it'.

National security

The ISA, which was originally drafted to battle the communist insurgency, later earned notoriety when it was used to crackdown on opposition leaders and activists.

In 1987, then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad used the law to arrest 117 people, including Lim and his deputy Karpal Singh, under an operation codenamed 'Ops Lalang'.

Two years before his retirement, the Mahathir administration once again invoked the law in 2001, amid a hail of criticism, against several opposition leaders accused of trying to overthrow the government via militant means.

Other prominent ISA detainees include ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, who was also arrested twice - as a student leader in the 1970s and following his sacking in 1998.

The law, which provides for detention without trial, is used against those deemed to be a threat to national security. The dragnet extends to suspected terrorists, those who forge official documents and those accused of bringing in illegal immigrants.

Detainees are held for a period of two years on the orders of the home minister, which upon expiry can be extended.