September 10, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 — A constitutional expert has
criticised the government for blaming the police for the way the Bersih
rally was handled, saying today Putrajaya should be held responsible for
the public fallout over the matter as police officers had acted strictly under government orders.
Professor Abdul Aziz Bari said that Malaysia practised a Westminister
model of democracy, whereby Article 43 (3) of the Federal Constitution
dictates that the police force answers to no one but the government of
the day.
“The government cannot blame the police in the Bersih issue. The
police force is part of the public service and this, in turn, is under
the care of the executive, namely the government of the day.
Constitutional
expert Professor Abdul Aziz Bari said today that “the buck stops with
the government” over the police's response to the July 9 Bersih rally. —
file pic
“Like in other Westminster democracies, the government is responsible for the public servants, including the police force. As they are not elected, it is the elected Cabinet who must be made accountable. That is the essence of responsible government as laid down under Article 43 (3) of the Federal Constitution,” he told The Malaysian Insider today via email.
Aziz was responding to remarks made earlier today by Tan Sri Dr
Koh Tsu Koon. Koh had said that the police’s handling of the July 9
Bersih rally was the cause of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s recent approval rating decline.
The Gerakan president agreed with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s view that
the rally had affected the government’s image, but stressed that
Putrajaya had never meant to “stifle” anyone’s freedom of speech or
right to express themselves.
Koh, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said measures
taken by the police during the rally had given the public the
“impression” that the government was “too restrictive”, and that this
was not true.
“The buck stops with the government; it cannot point the finger at
the public servants ... In the Bersih affair, the police were acting
under the instructions of the government,” Aziz explained further.
He said that the Najib administration’s move to pin the blame on the
police was not a new occurrence, and that a similar tactic was employed
by Dr Mahathir during the infamous Operasi Lalang incident.
“Serve the police right. They have become a guinea pig again,” Aziz added.
Dr Mahathir, in an Astro Awani interview aired yesterday, said that
Najib’s recent approval rating decline was due to his administration’s
handling of the Bersih rally.
He had agreed with the findings of Merdeka Center’s latest survey,
which saw Najib’s approval rating slide to its lowest point of 59 per
cent since last May’s high of 79 per cent. He said that the government’s
image was badly affected due to the strict measures taken by the
authorities to maintain public order on July 9.
The former prime minister pointed out that Putrajaya had acted wrongly by banning people from wearing yellow garments.
A Merdeka Center survey had concluded that the rating drop was
fuelled by rising concerns over the surge in living costs and
Putrajaya’s handling of Bersih 2.0.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have basked in the aftermath of the
survey results, claiming it indicated a clear voter swing towards the
federal opposition, while Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders have chosen to
stay indignant, saying the poll may not be an accurate reflection of
voter sentiment.
The survey involved respondents aged 21 and above across the
peninsula who were selected through a random stratified sampling along
the lines of ethnicity, gender, age and state of residency. Of th
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