(Kota Bhary, Sunday):
Firstly, DAP
thanks Kota Bahru PAS for its support for democracy in organizing the
"Solidarity with Fong Po Kuan Dinner" tonight as Fong is the latest
victim of the high-handed and undemocratic brute majority of the Barisan
Nasional in Parliament, which became a kangaroo court last December to punish
the young woman DAP MP for Batu Gajah to suspend her as MP for six months
without allowance for courageously discharging her parliamentary oath of office
to speak up for the people.
DAP and PAS
have separated with the DAP's withdrawal from the Barisan Alternative, but our
differences should not stand in the
way in our co-operation on issues of common concern to all Malaysians,
especially in the areas of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance -
just as tonight, we have come together for a common
cause in support and solidarity with Fong Po Kuan to uphold her
democratic rights and those of all
Malaysians.
This was why
the DAP leadership had steadfastly held that although we are no more in the
Barisan Alternative, on the issues of justice, freedom, democracy and good
governance, the DAP will continue to co-operate with the Barisan Alternative
parties both inside and outside Parliament.
In fact, if
there are Barisan Nasional component parties whether UMNO, MCA,
Gerakan or MIC which are
committed to the cause of democracy and are prepared to organize
"Solidarity with Fong Po Kuan" functions, Fong and DAP leaders would
have no hesitation in accepting
their invitations.
The
Malaysian political landscape had undergone a sea-change after the events of
September 11. The Indera Kayangan
by-election result is a good example. There
is no doubt that if the Indera Kayangan by-election had been held before
September 11, its outcome would have been very different from the actual
by-election result on January 19 this year.
UMNO and
Barisan Nasional leaders are now using their victory in the Indera Kayang by-election to claim that they have restored their pre-eminent political strength and
that the political wind is blowing in their direction rather than against them.
Very soon,
Malaysians would be facing another great political test which would decide
whether the Barisan Nasional victory in the Indera Kayangan by-election is a
fluke or represents a new political trend, with far-reaching implications for
the political future of the country.
On the eve
of the Indera Kayangan by-election on January 18, I had proposed that opposition
parties should meet and discuss
after the by-election the sea-change in Malaysian politics after 911 and how not
to allow the Barisan Nasional to camouflage an anti-democracy campaign behind an
anti-terrorism campaign all the way to the next general elections.
The
Opposition and the civil society in Malaysia must come to grips with the 911
fear syndrome which is being fully exploited by the Barisan Nasional so
as not
to allow it to
drown out the legitimate aspirations of Malaysians for justice, freedom,
democracy and good governance, causing further
setbacks to the timetable
for the long-awaited democratic
changes and reforms in the country.
(4/3/2002)