Slashing of Harakah publication from biweekly to bimonthly  the first  major violation of free press and free speech by Abdullah as Home Minister and the action of an  UMNO leadership under siege that has no confidence that it could win  the battle for the hearts and minds of the people, in particular the Malays

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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang 

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The Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi said that the reason for the slashing of the PAS biweekly publication into a bimonthly publication was to standardise the publication of all political parties’ newspapers and magazines.

He said the standardisation of publication period would give a fair opportunity to other political parties.

Abdullah claimed that this is not an "extraordinary" or "political" decision.  He said UMNO would also publish its newsletter twice a month.

Right-thinking Malaysians are both shocked by the latest encroachment on an already very limited free press and free speech in Malaysia as well as the ham-fisted manner to justify such a gross violation of human rights.

All the talk, whether by the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister, about excellence, merit and competition so that Malaysia can be at the cutting edge of the new information society sound empty or very superficial when Abdullah can trundle out the argument of "standardisation" to justify the slashing of  Harakah from a biweekly into a bimonthly.

If Abdullah is serious about his argument of "standardisation", then he is in fact suggesting that Malaysia must move, act or progress at the pace of the slowest or laziest citizen or organisation!

Why should Harakah be slashed from a biweekly to a bimonthly just because UMNO’s party organ, Merdeka, is not committed, professional or competent enough to  come out as  a biweekly and can only come out as a bimonthly?

Is Abdullah’s distinctive vision for the country to promote a Standardised Malaysia whether in human rights, democratic freedoms or cultural practices?  This will be a very dull and boring Malaysia indeed!

The Home Ministry’s decision to slash Harakah from a biweekly into a bimonthly has five  serious far-reaching implications:
 

• The refusal of the Barisan Nasional government to embark on political reforms to initiate greater democratisation - not absolute freedom and anarchy - in all aspects of national life.
• An UMNO leadership under siege, which has no confidence that it could win the battle for the hearts and minds of the people, in particular the Malays in the first decade of the new millennium.  This is further aggravated  by the lack of confidence of  the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister to win the hearts and minds of UMNO grassroots members reflected by the UMNO Supreme Council’s  "no contest" decision for the two top party posts in UMNO party elections in May.
• The country is not yet  prepared to make the quantum leap into the information age as the leaders are quagmired in the pre-IT mentality of "book-burning" and banning of publications at an era when information is being transmitted at the speed of light.
• Abdullah Badawi, although he has the reputation of "Mr. Nice Guy", cannot be trusted to protect and promote human rights, for the slashing of the Harakah from a biweekly into a bimonthly, which is a further erosion of existing rights, cannot be attributed to the Mahathir legacy but is a full Abdullah decision as Home Minister.
• The vision of a Standardised Malaysia, diminishing the talents, rights, abilities and cultural resources of the Malaysian people, which can only bring about a Mediocre Malaysia, where the slogan is no more "Malaysia Boleh" but "Malaysia Ta’ Boleh".

Whether UMNO’s Merdeka is going to be a bimonthly or biweekly is totally irrelevant to the rights of others to fully enjoy free press and free speech, subject to the laws of the land. Abdullah should realise that he is flying the white flag of surrender to PAS to win the hearts and minds of the Malay heartland by slashing Harakah from a biweekly to a bimonthly.

Abdullah should sent out a loud and clear message that he would not impose new fetters on human rights and democratic freedoms as Home Minister and that UMNO has the confidence to take on PAS in an open and democratic battle for the hearts and minds of the Malay heartland by restoring Harakah’s biweekly licence, remove the restriction on  its circulation to members only  and approve PAS’ application for Purnama as a daily newspaper.

(2/3/2000)