Malaysians will be denied a fair vote in general elections this weekend, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said yesterday, accusing the government of muzzling the opposition and manipulating the electoral process.
"Once again, elections in Malaysia are grossly unfair to the opposition," the global rights monitor's deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson said in a statement ahead of Saturday's ballot.
"Voters in Malaysia deserve a chance for every vote to count and count equally," she said. "Given the vast array of anomalies in the electoral rolls, this looks increasingly unlikely."
New York-based HRW said the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled for half a century was intent on retaining its two-thirds parliamentary majority and unwilling to allow reforms being demanded by activists.
It said that already tight control on the media had become even more glaring during the campaign, with state-run and government-linked outlets observing a virtual blackout on the opposition.
While the government held rallies with tens of thousands of people, dissenting voices were refused permission to hold public meetings and peaceful protests were dispersed with the use of tear gas and water cannons.
HRW said that in the face of major irregularities in the election process, there were concerns the government would manipulate the voting in closely fought districts.
"Malaysia's ruling coalition is too comfortable with the status quo to allow reforms that would level the playing field," Pearson said. "When opposition leaders and civil society groups critical of the government try to organize rallies, they are blocked at every turn. Yet the usual excuses about unruly protesters and blocked traffic are never mentioned when the ruling coalition wants to get its supporters out on the streets."
A decision by election officials to scrap plans for the introduction of indelible ink at Saturday's poll suggested a conspiracy to help the government win, said Malaysia's hardline opposition Islamists, the Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS).
"The announcement validates PAS' claim that there exists a Barisan conspiracy with cooperation from the election commission and other government agencies to ensure an undemocratic Barisan victory," PAS spokesman Roslan Shahir told reporters.
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS