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Press Statement
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Thursday) : If certain PAS leaders were “irked” by my query last week  (27^th May) about the “wobbly” PAS stand on the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) following the police revolt against the IPCMC and the threat to support the Opposition against the Barisan Nasional in the next general election, I was most irritated by the game played by PAS leaders in refusing to express clear and categorical support for the IPCMC.

For instance, four days after my query, the No. 2 man in PAS could not give a clear and categorical answer on IPCMC and had to resort to evasive tactics as illustrated by the Malaysiakini report “Show them who’s boss, Pak Lah told” (30^th May 30):

Contacted today, PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa declined to comment except to promise a response later after referring to party officials.

“We are currently very busy entertaining the (Hamas) foreign minister, who has boycotted all official functions after being treated badly at Non-Aligned Movement talks (in Kuala Lumpur) yesterday.”  

I had earlier posted the  question – which Opposition would the police throw their votes in support if IPCMC is set up, if all Opposition parties are clear and categorical in their support for the IPCMC?

I continued:

“Is this the reason why recently, PAS stand on IPCMC seemed to have become quite wobbly, in hope of benefiting from a police swing against the Prime Minister, Barisan Nasional and UMNO over the issue?

“Let all Opposition parties, in particular, PAS take a clear and unequivocal stand on the IPCMC issue – not to allow the police to flex it political muscles to hold the police beyond accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance principles.”

PAS Secretary-General Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar took exception to my query and statement.

He said it is not necessary for PAS to re-state its clear support of all recommendations made by the Royal Police Commission  and asked why I had raised the question about PAS’ stand on IPCMC when it had “always supported” the Royal Police Commission,  its findings and all its recommendations en bloc.

Frankly speaking, I asked the question because I do not know what is PAS stand on IPCMC. In fact, the PAS Deputy President was also unclear as illustrated in the Malaysiakini report. 

In the last parliamentary meeting, PAS MPs were conspicuously silent and absent in the push in Parliament  for the government to establish the IPCMC.

May be this is why it is quite impossible for anyone doing a search on the Harakah and PAS websites to discover any  clear and categorical  statement by the PAS  leadership supporting the IPCMC, although it was the centre of a prolonged national  controversy in the past 12 months.

PAS should stop flirting with the reactionary  police forces on the IPCMC issue hoping  to gain political mileage at the expense of the Prime Minister and UMNO – as IPCMC is a bigger issue than partisan politics or political gain.

The deplorable police misconduct on Sunday,  using brutal force to break up a peaceful protest against electricity tariff and fuel price increases as well as the disgraceful May 4 incident in Penang where the police aided and abetted the disruption of a peaceful and lawful forum on constitutional rights, should be  a clear message that there can be no compromise with any police abuse of power and trampling on civil and  human rights.

All Malaysians committed to the goal of a clean, incorruptible, professional and human-rights sensitive world-class police service must unite to isolate and  flush out the reactionary forces whether in the Malaysian police or the political arena to remove the obstacles standing in the way of the establishment of the IPCMC.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had openly committed himself to support the establishment of IPCMC and it is one issue political leaders, regardless of party, whether ruling or opposition, should stand as one to give him strength to implement the key recommendation of the Royal Police Commission – and not to give any reactionary police or political forces any opportunity to sabotage its establishment.

(01/06/2006)