Thursday, August 11, 2016

Malaysia’s slide towards authoritarianism


Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, centre, arrives for an Eid al-Fitr event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 21 July, 2016 as lawmakers demanded he go on leave and be held accountable after US officials initiated action to seize more than US$1 billion they say was stolen from a state investment fund by people close to the premier.
(AP/Vincent Thian)
 Malaysia, once considered a model of liberalism in south-east Asia, seems headed towards overt authoritarianism, with the arrest of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. Lim is of one of the few remaining prominent politicians standing against Prime Minister Najib Razak, and is facing what many considered politically motivated charges of corruption.


Lim, who was a member of the Democratic Action Party, has led one of the few regions in Malaysia without a Malay majority, since 2008. His arrest points to a shrinking space for opposition of any kind in the resource-rich nation of almost 30 million people.

“Malaysian society is fast becoming an Orwellian dystopia in which labels such as ‘moderates’, ‘extremists’, ‘national security’ and, ‘sedition’...have become relative, depending on how they are defined by the state,” said Kua Kia Soong, an advisor with the Malaysian Human Rights NGO SUARAM, in a press statement.

The latest move comes more than a year and a half since the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, in which US$700 million was allegedly embezzled from a government-run development fund into Najib’s bank account, and billions more went missing.

The government denied the charges, claiming the deposit was a personal gift from the Saudi Royal Family. Instead of properly investigating 1MDB, the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front, or BN) coalition has undertaken a gradual but intensifying clampdown against anyone who has spoken out against the prime minister.

Read more on Equal Times

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — Fifty-five per cent out of the 1,902 arrests made over corruption cases in the country from 2013 involved those aged between 20 and 40 years.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Razali Ibrahim said various programmes had been carried out to reduce the involvement of youths in corruption.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was also given the responsibility to get close to the younger generation in an effort to tackle the problem.
“This is a big number. We have carried out various programmes to reduce corruption which must be nurtured through education,” told a press conference after closing the 6th Anti-Corruption Secretariat Convention at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), here today
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/majority-of-corruption-arrests-involves-those-below-40-years-says-minister#sthash.75QnHoRV.dpuf
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — Fifty-five per cent out of the 1,902 arrests made over corruption cases in the country from 2013 involved those aged between 20 and 40 years.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Razali Ibrahim said various programmes had been carried out to reduce the involvement of youths in corruption.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was also given the responsibility to get close to the younger generation in an effort to tackle the problem.
“This is a big number. We have carried out various programmes to reduce corruption which must be nurtured through education,” told a press conference after closing the 6th Anti-Corruption Secretariat Convention at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), here today.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/majority-of-corruption-arrests-involves-those-below-40-years-says-minister#sthash.75QnHoRV.dpuf
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — Fifty-five per cent out of the 1,902 arrests made over corruption cases in the country from 2013 involved those aged between 20 and 40 years.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Razali Ibrahim said various programmes had been carried out to reduce the involvement of youths in corruption.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was also given the responsibility to get close to the younger generation in an effort to tackle the problem.
“This is a big number. We have carried out various programmes to reduce corruption which must be nurtured through education,” told a press conference after closing the 6th Anti-Corruption Secretariat Convention at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), here today.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/majority-of-corruption-arrests-involves-those-below-40-years-says-minister#sthash.75QnHoRV.dpuf
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — Fifty-five per cent out of the 1,902 arrests made over corruption cases in the country from 2013 involved those aged between 20 and 40 years.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Razali Ibrahim said various programmes had been carried out to reduce the involvement of youths in corruption.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was also given the responsibility to get close to the younger generation in an effort to tackle the problem.
“This is a big number. We have carried out various programmes to reduce corruption which must be nurtured through education,” told a press conference after closing the 6th Anti-Corruption Secretariat Convention at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), here today.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/majority-of-corruption-arrests-involves-those-below-40-years-says-minister#sthash.75QnHoRV.dpuf

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