BERSIH
5: LESSONS IN CITIZEN’S MOBILIZATION
FOR
INSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATIC REFORM IN MALAYSIA
PROHAM hosted a post
Bersih5 discussion on Friday Nov 25, 2016 to draw lessons from the Nov 19, 2016
mass citizen’s movement for institutional reform. Prior to Bersih5 PROHAM on
Nov 17, 2016 did also host a pre Bersih event discussion and had issued a
statement of the findings entitled “Fostering a better Malaysia through
peaceful citizen’s action”
The objective of the post
Bersih5 event panel discussion was to draw lessons. The objective was to take a
step back and reflect on the events and happening of Nov 19, 2016, draw some
reflections and policy implications for citizen’s action. It is hoped that this
exercise will further empower citizen’s action for institutional reform, good
governance and enhance parliamentary democracy in Malaysian society.
This discussion among
stakeholders is based on the premise of fundamental liberties as enshrined in the
Federal Constitution (Article 10) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(Article 20).
The panel speakers were Datuk
Kuthubul (PROHAM Chair), Ms Firdaus Husni,(Bar Council), Mr Rama Ramanthan
(Bersih Representative) & Dr Khor Ying Hooi (University Malaya/ Proham
volunteer). The panel was moderated by Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria (Proham
Secretary General).
Arising out of the
presentations and discussions are ten key discussion pointers which is
documented below for further study and deliberations:-
1 Bersih enlarged its outreach from
urban to include the rural &
global dimension.
It was noted that Bersih5
launched its biggest simultaneous nationwide roadshow called “The BERSIH 5
Convoy” which took place over seven weeks and converged to Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu for
the rally on 19th November. The objective of the BERSIH 5 Convoy was to
undertake a national conversation and awareness raising on BERSIH 5’s demands
for institutional reforms and the severity of the 1MDB crisis. The Convoy was
estimated to cover 246 cities, towns, and villages across Peninsular Malaysia,
Sabah, and Sarawak. It was also noted that Bersih5 has a strong global
dimension as events were held in 57 countries.
Locally in Malaysia,
Bersih5 is stilled viewed as an urban concern and not really impacting rural
people and voters. The urban concerns for good governances is contrasted with
the rural and semi-rural concerns for socio-economic development. This could
continue to be a major hurdle to reach the rural base and therefore Bersih must
strive to address these concerns too.
2 Police role – Mixed citizen reactions:
Professional but high handed
It was also noted that
ground level Police acted very professional in relating to the peaceful
demonstrators both during the Bersih5 nationwide convoy as well as in their
role on Nov 19, 2016. A number of stories were told of conversations with
Policemen on the ground. However there was much criticism on high level Police
in the way they handled Bersih5 and constant reference to Bersih5 as an illegal
gathering, inability to distinguish peaceful protest movement and that of the
counter Bersih5 movement which used threats, hate speech and intimidation.
The pre Bersih5 warnings,
the massive road closures and barricades on the actual day of march can be
constructed as preventing peaceful demonstrators from undertaking a peaceful
march. While Police justified the barricades as a safety measure and preventing
the yellow shirts from the red shirts, such action prevented peaceful march
from the designated locations towards city centre.
It was also felt that the
Police should have used Public Assembly Act (2012), Section 18 to ensure that
the counter Bersih5 group hold their rally on another day rather than also be allowed
on the same day and time. These actions were not in the spirit of fundamental
liberties of the citizens’ right to peaceful assembly.
3 Police crackdown, raid & arrest.
The Police justification
for pre Bersih raid of the office and confiscation of computers and equipments was
on the grounds to facilitate further investigation. Doing this at the eve of
the Bersih5 rally is viewed negatively as seeking to curtail and paralyse
operations. Furthermore it was expressed that such actions by the authorities
impact organisers negatively in managing the actual event peacefully.
It was felt the arrest of
many politicians had no direct relevance to Bersih5, as the movement was
primarily a civil society action. Such arrest were viewed as strategies to
instil fear and give a psychological perception that a massive crack down could
take place on Nov 19, 2016
4 Arrest of Ms Maria Chin under SOSMA and the link to CIA
It was strongly felt that
the detention of the Bersih Chairperson under the SOSMA provisions (Security
Offences-Special measures Act 2012) was totally unjustified. Ms Maria Chin and
the Bersih team have consistently expounded a peaceful demonstration as
citizen’s action for institutional reform. The accusation that she was part of
a terrorist movement to undermine parliamentary democracy was felt to be
unjustifiable and the use of SOMSA was an abuse by powers of the special
provisions. It was also felt that the authorities had deviated from the
promises made that this law will not be abused. Furthermore SOSMA clearly
states in clause 4 (3) “No person shall be arrested and detained under this
section solely for his political belief or political activity”.
The arrest of Maria has now prolonged citizen’s action with daily vigils and ongoing daily ‘sit- in’ by citizens groups calling to free Maria and abolish SOSMA campaign. There is also an online petition initiative by five regional and international CSOs in freeing Maria.
Some felt that the Habeas
Corpus date by the courts should be sooner rather than later, however next
Tuesday in court would be the focus of attention since the arrest of Maria
5 Receiving foreign funding for CSO
activities
It was also expressed
that receiving funding from any source is not unlawful. CSOs have been receiving
grants for specific purposes from both local and foreign funders which were
used for research, awareness campaigns, capacity building and socio-economic
activities. Therefore a detained review of accounts and how funds have been
utilised is necessary before any public statements made inferring wrong doing
or implied funding for unlawful political activities. Such statements by
authorities and government officials gives a misguided public information with negative
impacts of the worthy objective of the movement.
6 Bersih 5 Security Team
The security team or the
purple team of about 1,200 volunteers was commended for their dedication and
hard work in playing a major role in crowd control as well as ensuring none of
the Bersih5 demonstrators broke the barricades. They played an effective complementary
role in marshalling the peaceful protestors and also keep an eye on potential ‘agent
provocateurs’. On the whole, the Nov19, 2016 event shows that Malaysians are
now ready for peaceful assemblies. It was noted that Police could play an
effective role in training this voluntary group to ensure safety during
peaceful rallies.
7 Size of the Bersih5 crowds
There are different
estimates from 10,000 to 15,500 to 40,000. Some have indicated that the smaller
size indicates a failure of Bersih5. However it was felt that the Police action
had affected it especially the early warning including the prohibition of civil
servants and university students from participating. The final meeting point
location was a definite issue. The original location was Dataran Merdeka but
due to the heavy blockades and road closure, the Bersih5 finally gathered at.
KLCC location. It was however pointed out that compared to Bersih4, the Nov 19,
2016 event was very multi-racial. This is a very positive development.
There were comments by
certain individuals that Bersih5 saw the mobilization of Chinese evangelical
Christians to the streets. Church officials had issued statements that it was
unfair to single out one religious groups as Malaysians of all religious
communities participated as Malaysian citizens.
8 Politicians, political parties &
Bersih5
The visible presence of
opposition politicians at this and previous Bersih is a reality. Bersih
confirmed that they are Apolitical and invite all politicians sharing their
campaign goals to join them. Therefore opposition led leaders are open to
participate as compared to government related parties.
A lasting memory and
picture image of Bersih5 is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad. To see him in a yellow
t-shirt and also sitting by the road is an unforgettable picture. The changing
political landscape and the presence of key former UMNO leaders in Bersih5 is
one major scene of Bersih5. Questions are raised over the impartiality of
Bersih and the influence of certain political parties or their exploitation of
the open space.
9 Electoral reform agenda
A question was raised on
Bersih’s original objective of establishing a free & fair electoral system
and if the campaign had deviated from its original objectives. It was noted the
inter-related nature of the governance concerns based on the five Bersih5
demands. It was noted that an independent Election Commission including the appointments
by an independent and impartial panel was of utmost importance. This is an
ongoing reform agenda
10 Citizen’s action & rise of
authoritarian state
Questions were raised
over what have been achieved over the five Bersih street demonstrations, if it
was an effective method and if other options should be the focus of future
Besih actions. It was affirmed that peaceful assemblies are a legitimate civil
action and a fundamental right. That the Police need to respect and facilitate
this rather than place obstacles. Concerns were raised on the rise of state
action in Malaysia in curtailing fundamental liberties in the pretext of public
security and safety.
In this context it was
reiterated that citizen’s action has enlarged the space for citizen’s advocacy
for good governance. It has also impacted and changed Police action over the
five Bersih events from excessive use of force to road blocks and blockades in
restricting citizen’s peaceful movements. Although it is not an ideal
democratic environment nonetheless citizen’s action must push the envelope
towards greater compliance to the Federal Constitution (article 10) and UDHR
(article 20).
Issued on behalf of
PROHAM by Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria (PROHAM Secretary-General).
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Nov 27, 2016
