Five areas which Abdullah Badawi should give priority to give the  Home Ministry a human face, starting the painful process to restore public confidence in the institutions of government

(Petaling Jaya, Monday): I welcome the positive and humble response  of the newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi  when he said he would take note of all comments of political leaders and non-government organisations, including those from the Opposition,  when he assumes his new  duties.

Abdullah’s unassuming personality, his reputation as "Mr. Clean", and his stint in the "political wilderness" when he was out of the mainstream of UMNO and government politics when he sided with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s "Team B" challenge against Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s Team A in UMNO elections in 1987 should hopefully make him be more  responsive to dissent in the country.

There are at least five areas which Abdullah Badawi should give priority to begin to give the  Home Ministry a human face, starting the painful process to restore public confidence in the institutions of government, namely:
 

• Act decisively to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate into the police beatings of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim while under police custody as well as police lawlessness in general, consulting with the Opposition on the composition of the commission.
• Ensure the early and speedy approval of registration of  Social Justice Movement or ADIL, which was submitted on December 19, to show that there would be no abuse of government powers through inordinate delays to serve the political objectives of any party in power.  There is no reason why ADIL could not be registered before the Hari Raya when the Registrar of Societies could approve the registration of UMNO Baru in February 1988 within minutes of submission of the application.
• Loosen up and remove the press controls in the country to usher an era of free, fair and responsible  press in  Malaysia.
• Initiate prison reforms so that criminals are reformed to become useful citizens of society instead of graduating to become more hardened criminals on their release - by ensuring that all prisoners are treated as human beings as well as upgrading the salaries and conditions of service of the prison service to enable it to carry out such a mission.
• Granting permanent residence status to foreign wives married to Malaysians.

However, time is of the essence for any radical change to begin the painful process of restoring public confidence in the institutions of government which had suffered unprecedented damage and erosion in recent times.

Abdullah must ensure that he could stamp a new character and personality on the various departments in the Home Ministry, rather than allow them to stamp their character and personality on him.  In other words, he must provide new leadership to the Home Ministry, rather than be led by the various Home Ministry departments.

(11/1/99)