Malaysian parties, groups launch drive to demand reforms
Malaysian parties, groups launch drive to demand reforms
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysian opposition parties and social groups launched on Sunday a campaign for reforms in a challenge to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's rule.
"We demand for change. We demand for reform and social justice," Tian Chua, chairman of the newly formed Coalition for People's Democracy, told AFP.
He said formation of the coalition was an attempt "to create an alternative platform to present policies related to politics, the economy and social issues which will reflect the voices of the people."
Tian said 18 organizations, including the main political opposition Democratic Action Party; Voice of the Malaysian People, a human rights group; the Women's Force Organization (Tenaganita) and the Malaysian Islamic Youth Council were members of the coalition.
Late Sunday the Islamic opposition party, the Parti Islam Se- Malaysia (PAS), will found another coalition of religious groups and non-governmental organizations, he said.
"We will fight together for justice," Tian said.
Irene Fernandez, Tenaganita's director, told reporters the time had come for Mahathir to quit -- a demand made by the premier's ousted deputy Anwar Ibrahim until Anwar was arrested on Sept. 20.
Malaysian authorities closed the capital's main square on Sunday after the fourth anti-government protest in a week. Several thousand supporters of Anwar gathered near Merdeka (Freedom) Square on Saturday before police drove them away with water cannon.
Police detained 29 protesters, newspapers said. Police later parked at least 20 trucks around the rectangular green to bar protesters from gathering.
Last Sunday, 30,000 demonstrators had rallied in the square and called for an end to Mahathir's 17-year-old rule.
Hours after that demonstration, Anwar was arrested in his suburban home and detained under the Internal Security Act, which permits indefinite detention without trial.
A City Hall statement late on Saturday said the square would be closed to the public for a week. It cited maintenance work to be carried out following the Commonwealth Games which ended last Monday.
PAS said a big crowd was expected on Sunday night at a rally on the outskirts of the capital to launch the Malaysian Justice Movement, backed by at least one other opposition party.
"We are expecting a very large turnout tonight," said a spokesman for the group.
The group of non-governmental organizations and opposition parties, calling itself the Coalition for People's Democracy, on Sunday expressed full support for the new dissident movement.
The group announced a 10-point joint declaration which include the rights to freedom of speech and assembly, and to a fair trial and impartial hearing in a public court of law.
It also called for the repeal of all legislations which infringe human rights, including the Internal Security Act.
Anwar supporters called on people to try to gather at Merdeka Square on Monday, a national holiday in Malaysia.
The Malaysian government on Sunday warned visiting foreign journalists with expired credentials from the Commonwealth Games not to overstay without permission in order to cover the political unrest triggered by the firing of the country's former deputy prime minister.
"They can come but must first register," Malaysia's official Bernama news agency quoted Information Minister Mohamad Rahmat as saying about foreign correspondents who originally came to report on the sporting event.
The Commonwealth Games, which ended Sept. 21, drew some 2,000 international journalists to Kuala Lumpur, the Southeast Asian nation's capital city.