UMNO Chooses Polis Over Polls

These days, the direction of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib's supposed "1Malaysia" policy is becoming clearer and clearer. Najib has chosen Polis (Malaysian word for "police") over Polls as the basis of his rule. Najib's interpretation of "1Malaysia" appears not to be that all Malaysians should be united irregardless of race, but that all Malaysians cannot be allowed to express their individual opinions but should abide by Najib's opinions only; hence, 1Malaysian voice - his.

More and more innocent people are being rounded up by his police over the Perak controversy where his UMNO party, the United Malay National Organisation, has usurped power from Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the legitimate party that was governing the Malaysian state of Perak only a few months ago. I write "his police" rather than "the police" because the Malaysian police has been seen by Malaysians, and increasingly by the foreign press, to be beholden to UMNO, of which Najib is the warlord.

The latest incident that supports this claim involves the arrest of a score of people including elected PR representatives today for alleged "illegal assembly"; they were participating in a hunger strike to protest the illegal usurpation of power in Perak. In Malaysia, the police apparently are able to arrest anyone who assembles in a public place if the assembly consists of three or more people. This makes a mockery of the Malaysian constitution that allows for the right to peaceful assembly.

Some Malaysians are now claiming that Malaysia is fast becoming a police state, and that may indeed have come to pass from all the latest police-related incidents over the past month.