Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday announced that the government would abolish the 51-year-old Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
Bowing to a key opposition demand as speculation over snap polls mounts, Najib said the abolition of the Internal Security Act and other changes were aimed at ensuring “a modern, mature and functioning democracy.”
In a televised address ahead of the 48th anniversary of Malaysia’s formation, Najib said his government would not detain anyone because of their ideology.
“The government gives its commitment that any individual will not be detained merely on the basis of political ideology,” he said..
He said the law would be replaced by two new pieces of legislation, which would be used against suspected militants.
The measures would also relax press and assembly restrictions, a government official familiar with the plans said earlier in the day.
The ISA has long been a hot-button issue in Malaysia. Critics say it is abused by the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation to silence dissent.
“The prime minister wants to open up the space for discussion and remove archaic and irrelevant laws that serve to stifle and censor rather than encourage greater dialogue,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The government was jolted in 2008 when an invigorated opposition led by former deputy prime minister — and past ISA detainee — Anwar Ibrahim made historic parliamentary gains, setting the stage for a hard-fought next election.
Pressure for more political breathing space has grown amid soaring use of the Internet and social media sites, and has been further fuelled by the opposition’s recent successes.
Najib, who took office in 2009 vowing to review the ISA, is due to call an election by 2013. However, he has faced mounting questions recently — and declining opinion poll numbers — over the forceful quashing a July rally by the opposition and civil society groups for electoral reform.
Opposition politicians and rights activists have long criticized the ISA as outdated — it was enacted in 1960 as a bulwark against a failed communist insurgency — and ripe for abuse.
They have demanded its abolition along with other legislation that gives the government strong powers to silence its critics. Six other laws apart from the ISA also entail detention without trial.
The ISA allows an individual to be held virtually indefinitely for acts considered a threat to national security or to prevent such acts. Thousands have been detained over the past five decades.
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