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Malaysia Ready For Showdown
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (IslamOnline) - On Sunday, the Malaysian government fired a barrage of criticism against the National Justice Party (NJP), accusing it of being at the helm of the foreign media and powers.
The attack on the opposition party is coupled by a move to control the international media and expose what Mahathir Mohamad's regime says are pure lies and distortions in reporting.
The attacks Sunday on Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's (wife of jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim) party were part of salvos delivered against international media and the interest of foreign governments in the fate of Ibrahim.
While Malaysia looks set for a head on collision with the international media and the NJP, local authorities have not spared the popular online magazine, Malaysiakini.com, which it says is funded by billionaire Georges Soros.
The Internet news portal, launched on November 20, 1999, gets about half-a-million hits a month. Malaysiakini (Malaysia Now) has been accused of being a mouthpiece for Ibrahim and his reform movement. The government recently also barred Malaysiakini from attending government press conferences.
During a press conference held at the lavish and richly built city of Putrajaya, Mahathir lambasted the NJP and its leaders, demonizing them as thoughtless and possessive of selfish desires.
He said the NJP's sole mission was to free Ibrahim, once his protégé. Ibrahim is currently in jail serving a 15-year concurrent sentence on charges of sodomy and abuse of power, charges heavily contested by the NJP as a political ploy to destroy the former strongman.
Mahathir told the press that the NJP was not concerned about the country's security, economic and social matters, and the party was willing to stage demonstrations and resort to violence in an attempt to topple the government.
"We want to maintain peace; they [the NJP] are not bothered about peace. They see only one thing - how to free Anwar Ibrahim. [To them] the country is not important, the economy is not important, social security is not important," he told reporters.
NJP youth chief Mohammed Ezam Mohammed Nor reportedly said that the party wanted to hold large demonstrations in order to topple the government and remove Mahathir.
Another member of the NJP recently said that the year 2001 would be the year of Mahathir's downfall, adding that he sensed the ageing Prime Minister was not in total control of his own party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
Ruslan Kassin added that the aim of the reformasi movement was not only to topple the government but also to re-establish democratic principles he says have been violated by the current regime.
He added that the NJP's mission in holding rallies was to give a voice to the Malaysian people in the face of what he says is continued oppression in the fields of freedom of expression.
A member of the NJP told IslamOnline that Sunday's attack on the NJP, and recent moves against the international media, were signs that Mahathir's regime wanted to regain control of a situation long gone out of its hands.
"Too late, too heavy handed and too obvious that there we have a regime that is sinking deeper and deeper in more violations of rights." Stopinjustice, a rights group based in Jakarta, wrote in an message sent to press editors.
Meanwhile, Mahathir said the NJP claims it upholds democracy, social justice and the rule of law, yet it was willing to act to the contrary.
Linking the NJP to foreign forces attempting to destroy Malaysia, Mahathir said the party did not have any patriotic feelings and was happy to be praised by the foreign media, adding that Malaysia practiced democracy, and that elections were held to give the people opportunities to express support for any party they liked.
He added that those involved knew that if street demonstrations were used to topple the government in a democracy, the country's stability would continue to be affected even if they came to power.
He warned that his government will "see to what extent they want to do" before taking any actions against the street demonstrations which have multiplied since the middle of February this year.
The circulation of some foreign magazines has been reviewed since they were delayed a week ago, with officials at the Home Ministry planning to review every issue of news magazines like Asiaweek, the Far Eastern Economic Review and Time, more 'diligently', before allowing their sale on the market.
This could keep the publications from reaching newsstands for as long as a week, and possibly longer sources say.
The Straits Times of Singapore said that this approach will be used against a clutch of publications and could be in place for some time.
It also said this approach will win the Mahathir administration few friends abroad, and could unleash a wave of negative publicity in the international media.
While Malaysian officials are insisting that the foreign press is guilty of unfair and biased reporting, Asiaweek's editor, Dorina Elliot, said her magazine provided very fair coverage of Malaysia.
"We provide very fair coverage of Malaysia and try to reflect the views of the people. We always do solid research," she said.
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