No crisis now, why bring up Ops Lalang, asks Zaid

 

FMT:

No crisis now, why bring

up Ops Lalang, asks Zaid

FMT Reporters

-02 Aug 2024, 09:35 AM

He says the true measure of a government’s dictatorial nature should be its commitment to free speech and the frequency with which it uses sedition laws.

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Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said there are no crises at hand that warrant ‘harsh measures and frequent police use’.

PETALING JAYA: 

Ex-law minister Zaid Ibrahim today backed former Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan’s claim that the unity government is 

the most dictatorial in the country’s history

, challenging the defence by government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil of Putrajaya’s move to impose licensing laws for social media platforms.

In a post on X, Zaid dismissed Fahmi’s attempt to contrast this with Ops Lalang during the administration of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying the measures taken then were not comparable to the situation today.

It has happened throughout history that harsh measures have been adopted by governments when dealing with major crises. It’s understandable,

 he said.

But what crises are we facing now that warrant harsh measures and frequent police use?

Fahmi had dismissed Ambiga’s criticism of Putrajaya as an exaggeration, saying her comments did not reflect reality.

He said she should focus instead on the actions of previous administrations, adding that the unity government 

did not conduct Ops Lalang

 and 

did not take action to beat up demonstrators

.

Launched on Oct 27, 1987, Ops Lalang saw 119 civil society activists, intellectuals and opposition politicians detained without trial under the now-repealed Internal Security Act.

Among those detained were politicians Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Mahfuz Omar, Mohamad Sabu, Khalid Samad and Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, social activists Chandra Muzaffar and Meenakshi Raman, and unionist V David.

Zaid said that while Mahathir’s actions in 1987 were questionable, they were understandable due to the power struggle within Umno and the brewing judicial crisis at that time.

Anyway, after 1987, he (Mahathir) only used detention powers (under the Internal Security Act) sparingly in his 23-year rule,

 he said.

In contrast, Zaid said the unity government possessed a two-thirds majority in Parliament and was not facing any significant crisis.

He said the true measure of a government’s dictatorial nature should be its commitment to free speech and the frequency with which it uses sedition laws.

By this measure, the Madani government is much more dictatorial.