RPK speaks his mind on Politics in Malaysia
DIN MERICAN
Nearly 7,000 words by measure can be a long piece. The temptation is to dismiss RPK as having sold out to the other side because he talks to his erstwhile opponents, The New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia.
If he has sold his allegiance to any side of our politics, then his friends in Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement like the committed Haris Ibrahim and his associates would have abandoned him. They are still with him. He may be critical of both UMNO-BN and Pakatan Rakyat these days. That is understandable. And I think I know why. They all are disillusioned with politicians on both sides of the political divide.
I recall having a meeting before the 2008 General Elections with my good friend Haris Ibrahim at the Cobra Club House in Petaling Jaya. Haris wanted to know from me whether PKR (at that time I was in Anwar Ibrahim’s Office) and its associates, DAP and PAS, would endorse their Peoples Declaration. I spoke to all top guns in PKR including Anwar Ibrahim and Tian Chua, and came back and told Haris that PKR would endorse it and so would DAP and PAS.
As a result of that endorsement, Haris Ibrahim, RPK, Bernard Khoo and others took part on the campaign for the March 8, 2008 elections and subsequent by-elections. RPK went to hell for the cause, spending some time in Sungei Buloh under ISA until he was won his habeas corpus case in the Shah Alam High Court. His high profile case was ably handled by Malik Imtiaz, Art Harun and others.
RPK is passionate about the cause of freedom, human right, justice and democracy. He has written a book, The Silent Roar, containing his views on Malaysian political issues.
Writ of Habeas corpus petition, as you know, is a petition filed with a court by a person who objects to his own or another’s detention or imprisonment. The petition must show that the court ordering the detention or imprisonment made a legal or factual error. Habeas corpus petitions are usually filed by persons serving prison sentences.
When their agenda as embodied in the Peoples Declaration was not taken up in earnest by Pakatan Rakyat, RPK and Haris Ibrahim formed the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) to promote political reform in our country. I have a lot of regard for RPK, Haris Ibrahim and the people who are from civil society in this worthy cause. In this interview, he mentioned some outstanding names. But he was critical of Ambiga, the hero of Berish 2.0.
Please read this interview in its entirety with care and critique his views if you must but do not cast aspersions on RPK. I trust you can do that. I am afraid I do not have an English version, but the interview he gave to the New Straits Times which I posted earlier can give some idea of what he is saying in this Mingguan Malaysia interview.
