Ambiga says Myanmar freer than Malaysia

November 25, 2011

PETALING JAYA, Nov 25 — Bersih 2.0 chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said today that Malaysians will have less freedom under the government’s proposed new law governing public demonstrations compared to Myanmar, a country which has one of the world’s worse human rights record.

She pointed out that Myanmar recently passed new legislation that allowed street protests, and provided for less stringent conditions than the Najib administration’s proposed Peaceful Assembly Act that was tabled in Parliament this week.

“It is shameful that Burma (Myanmar) can propose a far more democratic law than us.

“It is a terrible insult to Malaysians because we were promised more democracy, but now it is the opposite,” said Ambiga (picture).

Myanmar’s military-dominated Parliament passed a law this week allowing citizens to protest peacefully but which requires demonstrators to “inform the authorities five days in advance.”

Under Malaysia’s Peaceful Assembly Act, demonstrators are required to give 30 days’ notice to the police, while a host of restrictions effectively prevents any street protests.

The Myanmar law states that demonstrators must avoid government buildings, schools, hospitals and embassies. The Malaysian version has similar restrictions but includes a buffer from houses of worship and petrol stations.

Ambiga had earlier this week urged the government to immediately withdraw the proposed law if it was sincere to prove correct Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s reformist stand on making Malaysia the “best democracy”.

The prime minister promised a raft of reforms in his Malaysia Day address on September 15, including the repeal of the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) and doing away with annual permits for the print media, saying he wanted to give Malaysians more freedom.

Pakatan Rakyat MPs have also castigated the government for presenting a more “repressive” law despite being globally panned after it resorted to tough police measures to clamp down on dissent.

In a city lockdown last July 9 during the Bersih 2.0 rally, police shot chemical-laced water cannons and tear gas into thousands of street demonstrators demanding for cleaner elections.

The organisers estimated 50,000 people turned out for the rally, but official figures put the number as closer to 6,000 with nearly 1,600 arrested.