(Reported by Richard Y W Yeoh)
The Caucus was formed this afternoon and announced at a media conference that began at 3pm.
The speakers at the briefing were Lim Kit Siang (DAP), Senator Dato’ Mohd Zaid Ibrahim (BN), Karpal Singh (DAP), Lim Guan Eng (DAP), Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (PKR), Dr Hatta (PAS), & R Sivarasa (PKR).
Kit Siang applauded Dato’ Zaid’s decision to resign as Minister on the matter of principle that the ISA should not be used against civilians but only against those who advocate the overthrow of government by force or terrorists.
Dato’ Zaid in his remarks said that she knew Teresa Kok personally and had worked with her on the ASEAN Inter-Parlaimentary Myanmar Caucus and described her as a hardworking MP and “she could never be anti-Malay, anti-Islam or anti-anything”.
He added that Malaysia had adequate laws to deal with any eventuality and there was no justification to use the ISA on politicians and civilians.
“People say that we have peace and stability in Malaysia because of the ISA but I say that we have peace and security despite the ISA”, he added. “Cukuplah”, he added, “We should stop using the ISA for political purposes”. He said there were cases where ISA detainees were awarded Datoships soon after their release – this showed that the ISA had been misused in the past. “If these people were threats to national security, how can they be awarded Datoships?” he asked.
Selangor Mentri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid said that the state govt will use all legal channels to free Teresa Kok as well as M Manoharan from detention. The state EXCO unanimously reject the use of the ISA, he said.
He said that Teresa was slotted to address a group of Japanese investors yesterday (Tuesday) but she could not keep the appointment as she was detained. He lamented how difficult it was to convince investors that there was political stability when even a state government official could be detained arbitrarily. Teresa was also planning an investment mission to Taiwan in Oct.
To illustrate that Teresa was not racist or anti-Malay, he said that she was enthusiatically looking into ways to double the productivity of padi farmers in Sabak Bernam, Tanjong Karang and Sungai Besar, where most of the farmers are Malays to ensure higher income for these farmers.
After last Wed’s EXCO meeting, Teresa had issued a press statement denying any involvement with petitions asking for the toning down of azan calls by mosques in Selangor. In fact, when queried by an Utusan Melayu reporter whether she personally objected to the broadcast of azan calls, she pointed out that she herself lived near a mosque and she had never had any problem with the azan call.
PAS’ Dr Hatta described Teresa as the “softest” MP and was astonished that even she could be held under the ISA. He highlighted the work and sacrifice of the activists behind Gerakan Mansohkan ISA (GMI) – the Movement for the Abolishment of ISA established in 2001 and said that the ISA was a threat to both the people at large and parliamentarians.
Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng described the ISA as a “weapon of fear” used to strike fear in the hearts of Malaysians and lamented that journalists had now joined politicians as targets of the ISA. He reminded the media that the ISA had even been on children as young as 14 in the Memali (Kedah) incident of the mid-80s. He alleged that there was bias in the use of the ISA and noted that no action was taken against the UMNO Opposition Leader in Penang who allegedly called for the reporter (Tan Hoon Cheng) to be shot. In fact action was taken against the reporter who wrote a factual report.
PKR Vice-President, R Sivarasa called for a campaign for the abolishment of the ISA and for the release of all detainees. He said that even if the ISA was confined to those alleged to be plotting the overthrow of the government, this could also be abused as was the case when some PKR leaders were detained for allegedly so plotting – the police were unable to substantiate these allegations in court.
Sivarasa said that efforts must be made to garner support from bodies such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).
DAP Chairman, Karpal Singh described the ISA as a rehash of the colonial-era Emergency Regulations of 1948 intended to fight Communist terrorism and rebellion.. He recalled that when tabling the ISA Bill in Parliament, then-Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman had solemnly pledged that the ISA would never be used for political purposes. In the absence of an independent judiciary, he said that fighting such detention orders was an uphill task.
The caucus is made up of parliamentarians from PKR, DAP and PAS. Kit Siang lamented the fact that no elected BN parliamentarian was present although he noted the support of Senator Zaid Ibrahim.