Nurul Izzah's and Malaysians' plea to world leaders

Help us stop the oppression, Nurul Izzah says in plea to world leaders

PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar claims the string of allegedly politically-motivated investigations, arrests and imprisonment was the result of BN’s near-loss in the 2013 elections. ― File picKUALA LUMPUR, May 13 ― Nurul Izzah Anwar has sounded an appeal to leaders across the globe to condemn what she described as the criminalisation of Malaysia's opposition, citing as example the jailing of her father Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the arrest of scores of other government critics.

The PKR vice-president, writing in an Op-Ed in the New York Times, claimed the tempo of repression here quickened significantly when the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal opposition pact, of which her party is a part of, nearly secured its place in Putrajaya in the 2013 national polls.

Since then, she lamented, local enforcers have been using preventive laws that give them sweeping powers to harass and prosecute dissenters in the name of maintaining public order.

“We are running out of family members for officials to arrest on bogus charges,” she wrote.

Nurul Izzah said apart from her father, who is now serving a five-year jail term for his second sodomy conviction, the authorities have also continually applied pressure on her mother, PKR president and newly-elected Permatang Pauh MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The police, she claimed, have also hinted of plans to interrogate her younger sister Nurul Nuha, who is leading the March 2 Freedom coalition calling for Anwar's release.

Nurul Izzah herself was recently arrested and locked up overnight for an allegedly seditious speech that she had delivered in Parliament on behalf of her father.

“I am out on bail now, but my arrest is intended to silence me and to warn other would-be government critics,” she said.

The string of allegedly politically-motivated investigations, arrests and imprisonment was the result of Barisan Nasional's (BN) near-loss in the 2013 elections, Nurul Izzah claimed.

She pointed out that BN had only clung on to power then by way of gerrymandering and the creation of unequal electoral districts, which had led to the ruling pact winning the overall election but losing the popular vote.

Since then, she said BN lynchpin party Umno has been working hard at keeping PR constantly on the defensive, oftentimes playing up sensitive racial and religious matters.

But Nurul Izzah said the government needs to train its focus elsewhere, particularly on ending systemic corruption and introducing sound policies to improve living standards and help the economy grow.

“It’s encouraging that Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s former long-time prime minister, has recently become Prime Minister Najib’s fiercest critic, attacking him as corrupt and incompetent,” she wrote.

“But we need louder voices to condemn what’s happening here. World leaders need to tell Mr. Najib and his cronies that trade and economic considerations, including the much talked about Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, will not be placed above civil and political rights.

“It’s time for Malaysia’s friends around the world to stop giving our leaders a pass on sharply declining human rights and the rule of law,” the Lembah Pantai MP said.

Nurul Izzah was referring to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's recent attacks against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the latter's alleged failure to address the many controversies plaguing his leadership.

According to Dr Mahathir, who is said to still wield considerable influence among Umno circles, Najib must step down before the next federal polls due by 2018 or BN could see its over five-decade rule in Malaysia come to an abrupt halt.

But Najib has since resisted Dr Mahathir's attacks and all calls for his dismissal.

PR, still struggling to overcome its own internal troubles, has yet been able to utilise BN's vulnerability to its benefit.

According to veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, the opposition pact could very well miss its chance to replace BN if it fails to stay united before the next general election.

Correct for Nurul to say, so as Malaysia is fast becoming a police state with the IGP being pro-Umno. The police force should stay professional and neutral, so also should all govt. agencies such as MACC, Military, etc.
The world leaders should send a LOUD, Harsh WARNING to the Umno/BN govt. NOW! before the country go bankrupt and anarchy, violence and bloodshed follow as they are plundering this country blind - that now we have GST to pay for the monetary funds that were looted! The poor are going to revolt as they are suffering the MOST and certain people will blame the Chinese for the country's ills and provoke the Malays, just what happened in Indonesia during the Asian financial crisis.