By James Joseph
KUCHING, 28 August 2015 - Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Nancy Shukri said there is a different approach in respect of Sarawak Bersih
organisers when they agreed to the change of venue proposed by the State
Authority.
"Civil Liberties is all about being civil, and
negotiations should be part and parcel of that.
"Here in Sarawak, we witnessed the workings of civil
liberty at its best because the intention of organiser is genuinely to gather
peacefully according to law and at the same time the Local Authority
acknowledges civil rights of people to assemble," she said in a press
statement today.
She added:" It is a win-win situation for both the
rakyat and the Government. We just hope
and pray no untoward incidents will happen during the assembly."
Nancy said the Kuala Lumpur organisers should accept a suggestion
of another location or another date to have the assembly, instead of insisting
to have the rally held at Dataran Merdeka.
"As we know, we have for 58 years traditionally
celebrated Merdeka in Dataran Merdeka, with various programmes set out, and
preparation being vital, if the organisers' intention is really to have a
peaceful assembly, the location should not be an issue when the police
suggested Bukit Jalil," she added.
She said the government acknowledges the rights especially
the freedom of speech, assembly and association sought by the people in this
country.
"These rights and freedom are clearly stipulated in
Article 10 (1)(a),(b) & (c) of the Federal Constitution.
"However the government which was elected by the people
on the other hand acknowledges that such rights and freedom need to be
restricted in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part
thereof, public order or morality.
"Therefore, Article 10 (2)(a)(b)(c), (3) & (4)
clearly stipulated the manner of such restrictions through law that may be
imposed by Parliament.
"The right to assemble is rightfully protected by
the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, but we have others’ interest to protect too,
and so we allow administrative tools in place to ensure the people who will be
affected such as business owners, daily commuters, participants of the Merdeka
celebration can know in advance and prepare," she said.
"In respect of Bersih 4 rally, we have to be mindful
of the negative impacts of such action to our economy and reputation especially
when the country wants to consolidate ourselves to face the challenges in
tackling our economy as a result of the world economic downturn.
"Previous years, we saw damages to private property,
those belonging to hawkers and private businesses, and the disruption to
others’ rights to carry on with their daily activities," Nancy said.
No comments:
Post a Comment