February 17, 2013
Australian senator, Nick Xenophon (left) seen here with Opposition Leader, Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim. - file photo
KUALA
LUMPUR, Feb 17 — Australian senator Nick Xenophon said today that his
deportation from Malaysia yesterday revealed how “dire and critical” the
state of Malaysian democracy was.
The independent lawmaker was also quoted by Australian media as
saying that his deportation was a “big mistake” as it had backfired on
Putrajaya.
“But if it means more Australians in the region are aware of how dire
and critical the state of Malaysian democracy is and how Malaysian
democracy is at the crossroads, then that unambiguously is a good
thing,” Xenophon was quoted today as saying by Australia’s national
broadcaster ABC News.
“Australia and Malaysia are the greatest of friends. This shouldn’t
affect the relationship but I think if the Malaysian government thought
that they were doing the smart thing, I think it spectacularly backfired
on them,” he added.
Xenophon also said that Australia had a moral obligation to intervene
in the coming Election 2013 to ensure that it was clean and fair,
despite the polls having a “veneer of democracy”, according to
Australian newspaper Herald Sun.
“Millions of Malaysians see Australia as a shining beacon of
democracy in the region and seek our help for independent election
observers,” he said.
Australia’s former prime minister Kevin Rudd has condemned Xenophon’s
detention as unacceptable and urged Canberra to be “robust” in
response.
Xenophon arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning to call on
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, de facto law minister Datuk
Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz and Election Commission (EC) officials next
week, but was detained at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang and
subsequently deported late at night.
Xenophon was to review the country’s electoral system with a
delegation of other Australian MPs and senators that would arrive later,
but his colleagues have cancelled the trip in response to his
deportation.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad said
yesterday that Xenophon was deported and barred from entering Malaysia
under the Immigration Act 8(3) because the senator had made statements
that allegedly tarnished Malaysia’s image.
Alias highlighted Xenophon’s remarks about the Malaysian government
being “authoritarian” in handling last April’s Bersih 3.0 rally for free
and fair elections.
In Xenophon’s observation of the rally, he noted that the police had
fired tear gas and chemical-laced water in what had been a largely
peaceful protest.
His comments were also laid down in the final report of a
fact-finding mission on elections in Malaysia as part of an
international polls observer group that included six others, including
representatives from neighbouring Indonesia, the Philippines, India,
Pakistan and Germany.
Xenophon said today that the immigration authorities had called him a “security risk”.
“But it seems the only risk I am is to embarrassing the Malaysian
government because of my advocacy for clean elections in Malaysia,” he
said, according to ABC News.
Xenophon’s detention and deportation have raised the ire of several
Malaysians, including electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 and Pakatan
Rakyat (PR) politicians.
Bersih 2.0 co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan lambasted Xenophon’s
deportation as a move that showed the government’s “paranoia” about the
coming national polls.
Anwar called it a “gross abuse of power” that violated international
protocol in treating international lawmakers, especially those from the
Commonwealth.
Several other Twitter users joined Ambiga in raining scorn on the
government’s decision, with the subject spawning a hashtag #xenophon.
The Election Commission (EC) however has defended the lawmaker’s
deportation, saying that immigration authorities were merely performing
their duty.
EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar added that it was unjust
to judge the fairness of Election 2013, which must be called by April,
based on Xenophon’s expulsion.
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