KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — Lim Guan Eng urged Putrajaya today not to ban opposition leaders from travelling just because they criticise the government overseas, saying allowing dissent is a prerequisite to achieving social harmony.
The DAP secretary-general in his Wesak Day message said only those who rob Malaysians of their money or commit other crimes should face such punishment.
“Do not ban those who bravely fight for fundamental human rights or the right to have free, fair and clean elections,” he said.
“We believe in a Malaysia that celebrates human dignity, social harmony and diversity. We cannot have social harmony when we insist on uniformity and a regimented way of thinking that does not permit dissenting views,” he added.
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang in a separate statement on the issue urged Malaysians to speak up against Putrajaya’s immigration policy, saying the government should not be allowed to turn the country into a “national prison”.
He said all ministers and their deputies should be made to understand that the issuance of a passport is a fundamental right guaranteed in the Federal Constitution and is not a privilege as suggested recently by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
The right to a passport, he added, should not be subject to arbitrary denial or withdrawal or be dependent on the whims and fancies of those in power.
“Is Malaysia an open and democratic society or has it regressed to become an autocratic and closed society like the North Korean communist regime?” he asked.
Yesterday, after he was criticised for saying that passports were a privilege and not a right of Malaysians, Nur Jazlan further explained that travel restrictions can be imposed on grounds of national security.
He also denied reports that the ban was aimed at government critics, claiming that it only affected Malaysians who violated the Federal Constitution.
The Star recently reported the Immigration Department as saying that it enforced a ruling a few months ago to bar those who insult the government from travelling abroad for three years.
The issue over travel bans on dissidents was raised recently when Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah complained that she was stopped from boarding a flight to South Korea to receive the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights on behalf of the polls reform group.
