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PETALING JAYA: A group of 75 civil societies published a report on the first 100 days of Perikatan Nasional in which they said that the coalition had issued very few statements on legal reforms and the direction of the government itself.
In addition, he said there was an increase in arrests and police investigations against human rights defenders and journalists after the PN took over Putrajaya.
“PH’s inability to repeal draconian laws when in power has led to potentially exacerbating human rights violations against vulnerable people,” said the Platform for the Reform of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
The report entitled The 22 Months of Pakatan Harapan and the First 100 Days of Perikatan Nasional stated that the general perception was that the PN government was focused on Malays and advocated a more conservative Islam.
“There is a widening gap that sees a clash in intra-Malaysian politics between conservatives and liberal forces,” he said, adding that this could have an impact on non-Malays as well.
He said that the unexpected Covid-19 crisis had led to further marginalization of indigenous peoples, migrant workers and refugees.
“The urgent task is how to fight for a more inclusive, peaceful and harmonious society,” he said.
On electoral reforms, he said that the PN government had not shown any urgency to reform the electoral system.
“The mandate of the voters that was given in the previous election was not respected as many deputies and state assemblymen jumped from PH to PN. Parliamentarians were assigned positions in GLC and government agencies, ”he added.
The 70-page report noted that a total of 82.3% of the PN’s 113 MPs had been appointed to the cabinet, or vice ministers, or appointed to top GLC positions or special diplomats.
However, he said, despite the way the PN came to power, “it appears to be trying to meet some of the standards that its predecessor had set.” He added that the coalition was trying to gain public approval and support, although it did not use the democratic option of going to the polls.
22 month PH
The group said that under PH, there was rehabilitation and restructuring of financial institutions such as the Tabung Haji Board and the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda).
PH had also created select parliamentary committees made up of government and opposition deputies. Furthermore, under PH, several politicians were arrested for corruption and Malaysia’s ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index improved from 61 in 2018 to 51 in 2019.
He said that there are still political appointments in the statutory bodies of the government and that PH has not yet initiated the adoption of international corporate governance standards.
Regarding child protection, PH had launched the National Strategic Plan to address the causes of child marriage, but it had failed to end spanking and other forms of corporal punishment.
Regarding access to justice, the rule of law and human rights, PH had presented the bill of the Independent Complaints and Misconduct Commission against the Police (IPCMC) and introduced a moratorium on the death penalty. But it did not repeal the death penalty or remove many draconian laws such as the Sedition Act, the National Security Act, the Terrorism Prevention Act (Pota), and the Security Crimes (Special Measures) Act (Sosma).
recommendations
The civil society group hopes that the PN government will continue with the reforms carried out by PH but which were left in limbo after the change of government in February this year.
He said eight reforms to the laws were in limbo: the Whistleblowing Act, the Women’s Employment Act, an independent electoral commission, the Sexual Harassment Act, the Gender Equality Act, the Political Finance Act, the Public Procurement Law and the Law against Stalking.
The group also expected frequent engagement with the PN government, as was the case with the PH government.
He also hoped that the criminalization of LGBTIQ people would be stopped, adding that the pressure to suppress a person’s sexual orientation and gender was overwhelming in Malaysia and had led to “low health-seeking, self-blaming and blaming behavior.” .
NGOs in the group include the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas), Voice of the Children, Bersih 2.0, Pusat Komas, Agora Society, Justice for Sisters, the Malaysian Center for Constitution and Human Rights and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).
