KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is able to celebrate 60 years of independence today, proving that the country is moving in the right direction in nation building alongside progressive democracy.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low said despite the differences in race and ethnicity, it must be appreciated that the basis of Malaysia’s democratic foundations was laid in a carefully drafted constitution.
This he said, were adopted by all stakeholders and until today forms the basis of the country’s socio-political system.
“For the last six decades, Malaysia has continued to uphold her democratic system of government, having held successive 13 general elections in accordance with the constitution without disruptions that are undemocratic.
“Although there were accusations made by civil society groups, it should be noted that in the 12th and 13th general election the incumbent government’s coalition party lost its two thirds majority in Parliament.
“There were changes in government in three states to the opposition coalition. Under the country’s democratic process, specific disputes giving doubt to the integrity of the conduct of the election can be challenged in the courts and this was done in past elections.
“If democracy did not exist (as accused), the incumbent government would not have lost its two third majority,” said Low at the opening address of the Democracy in South East Asia: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects conference.
Noting that while integrity in Malaysia is of high standards, Low said not all things were perfect.
“There are still adjustments that can be made and there is room for improvements,” he said.
He added that the essence of a democratic state is where the citizens have the right to elect their representatives who form the parliament and the political party or a coalition of parties that have the majority seats, which will rule until the next election.
“Malaysia, like any open society in the modern contemporary world faces key challenges that affects its democracy and these include the impact of the social media in the digital space which provide easy and fast access to information.
“Social media and the prevalence of fake news is one of the challenges that we need to face. Now everyone who owns a smart phone or computer can be a journalist, but they may not necessarily be credible.
“That is a challenge for the Malaysian government as this creates an intensive political competition in communication of the right information to the voting public.
“The openness of social media can be abused by politics of hate, condemnation and fake news. Hence, this is a challenge to the government on how much intervention is appropriate to regulate against fake news,” he said.
He pointed out that there is a stronger demand for personal rights such as more freedom of expression, more space for inclusiveness in formulation of public policy and also to hold public demonstration.
“This is in contrast to demands by the rural community which is more related to the availability of physical amenities and infrastructure. The challenge today of any government is to balance the civil rights with the need to maintain security and peace.
“Without security and peace, there is no point for us to have freedom of expression,” he said.
Meanwhile, Low also addressed disputes over whether non-citizens were allowed to protest in the country.
“There is no restriction against foreigners staging a peaceful rally in the country, subject to provisions available according to the law.
“The recent rally in support of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority was a form of freedom of expression, which Malaysia upholds.
“There are quite a significant number of them here and they should be given voice to express themselves.
“They are already here, they are allowed to protest as long they obey the laws of the country,” he said.
Last Wednesday, about 1,000 protesters gathered near a major road in Kuala Lumpur calling for an end to violence against the minority Rohingya people in Myanmar.