KL opposition fears crackdown

KL opposition fears crackdown

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysia's parliamentary opposition leader warned the government yesterday against using the current economic downturn as a pretext to crack down on civil liberties after police stopped three public meetings from being held this week.

Lim Kit Siang, who heads the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), accused the government of being afraid of "contagion" from Indonesia, where former president Soeharto was forced to quit on May 21 due to widespread protests.

Lim was referring to incidents on Sunday and Tuesday, when riot police prevented two DAP-organized public meetings from being held, and to the cancellation of a police permit for a consumer group to discuss the current water crisis in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"Has Malaysia suddenly descended into a police state in a matter of days?" he asked in a statement.