This really gets more and more interesting. Just in case you haven't known, this is something that I found in www.wikipedia.org regarding our counry's very own Internal Security Act.
Several politicians from the Barisan Nasional coalition, including its largest component party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO or Umno), that has governed Malaysia since independence have also criticised the ISA. The fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, went on the record in 1988 to state "If we want to save Malaysia and Umno, Dr Mahathir (then Prime Minister) must be removed. He uses draconian laws such as the Internal Security Act to silence his critics." The year before, he had also stated "Laws such as the Internal Security Act have no place in modern Malaysia. It is a draconian (rigorous; unusually severe or cruel) and barbaric (uncivilized) law." In 2003 when he became Prime Minister, however, Abdullah called the ISA "a necessary law," and argued "We have never misused the Internal Security Act. All those detained under the Internal Security Act are proven threats to society." But opposition parties believe it is a threat to Umno rather than a threat to the country.
Several politicians from the Barisan Nasional coalition, including its largest component party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO or Umno), that has governed Malaysia since independence have also criticised the ISA. The fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, went on the record in 1988 to state "If we want to save Malaysia and Umno, Dr Mahathir (then Prime Minister) must be removed. He uses draconian laws such as the Internal Security Act to silence his critics." The year before, he had also stated "Laws such as the Internal Security Act have no place in modern Malaysia. It is a draconian (rigorous; unusually severe or cruel) and barbaric (uncivilized) law." In 2003 when he became Prime Minister, however, Abdullah called the ISA "a necessary law," and argued "We have never misused the Internal Security Act. All those detained under the Internal Security Act are proven threats to society." But opposition parties believe it is a threat to Umno rather than a threat to the country.
Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Mahathir had also adhered to a critical view of the ISA. In 1966, when Mahathir spoke out in support of the Internal Security (Amendment) Bill 1966 as a backbencher, he stated that "no one in his right senses like[s] the ISA. It is in fact a negation of all the principles of democracy."
Quoting from Reginald Hugh Hickling, the person who drafted the Internal Security Act 1960, "I could not imagine then that the time would come when the power of detention, carefully and deliberately interlocked with Article 149 of the Constitution, would be used against political opponents, welfare workers and others dedicated to nonviolent, peaceful activities."
Why didn't Mahathir receive any support from current MPs to walk out from the party with him? Would he himself have done that if he were the Deputy Prime Minister, the next-in-line Prime Minister? And we all thought we were embracing a change for the better when he was known to be rasuah-free.
Can power change a person? This is not just seen the movies anymore. As Oscar Wilde put it best, life imitates art far more than art imitates life.
No comments:
Post a Comment