Clamp down on rallies would lead to ‘Arab Spring’ in Malaysia, group warns

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 4 — Malaysia could end up with its own version of the Arab Spring if the federal government chooses to clamp down on the people’s freedom of expression and assembly, Amnesty International secretary-general Salil Shetty said today.

The activist said those in the government here had said that they could not “risk giving freedom of expression to the people” as it would allegedly lead to a revolution like the Arab Spring.

Salil said he had joked that Malaysia does not have Arabs or even spring when telling those in the government to not worry about having an Arab Spring.

“But more seriously, it has kind of gone back to front because one of the reasons why the Arab Spring has happened is because people in the Arab world have not had freedom of expression.

“So if they don’t give people the right to protest peacefully to speak their mind, you are almost guaranteed an Arab Spring,” he said at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference here.

On Wednesday, federal minister Datuk Paul Low likened the Bersih 4 rally to a “mini Arab Spring”, referring to the series of tumultuous street demonstrations and protests that swept the Arab world in 2010 that saw a regime change in several countries, including Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

Low said the government had banned the Bersih 4 rally because it was intended to call for the dismantling of the government in power, instead of other acceptable causes such as rallies against corruption or injustice.

The minister in charge of governance, integrity and human rights pointed out that the Bersih 4 rally originally called for the resignation of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, along with the set-up of a caretaker government and for fresh polls to be called within a year.

Aimed at pressuring the prime minister to step down, the Bersih 4 rally had five official demands: clean elections; clean government; right to dissent; strengthening parliamentary democracy and saving the economy.

The two-day rally in Kuala Lumpur ended at midnight on Sunday without any violent incidents.