It should be named 'Illegal Assembly Bill'

Pakatan Rakyat politicians and civil rights activists are outraged that the proposed Peaceful Assembly Bill will provide police with greater powers to curb the constitutional right to assembly.

The tabling of the Bill today includes repealing Section 27 of the Police Act 1967, which has been used to govern public assemblies thus far.

The main point of contention is that the proposed law provides the government and the police very wide powers in deciding the venue for an assembly.

For example, street rallies are explicitly banned. The proposed law also vaguely states that some venues, as defined by the home minister, will also be off-limits.




The Peaceful Assembly Bill states that organisers must give police 30 days' notice - or face a fine of RM10,000.

The Bill also proposes that participants in an assembly deemed illegal face a fine of RM20,000 fine.

In view of the tightening of conditions to hold an assembly, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng remarked that the new law should rightfully be called the 'Illegal Assembly Bill'.
“It is worse than the Police Act... it doesn't even state the number of people that constitute an assembly.

“And the fine, it’s RM20,000 maximum now. Rallies and protests should also be held 50m away from places of worship,” said Lim.

He slammed the new bill, saying it was more restrictive than the existing laws that govern assemblies.

“The way it’s going we can only protest in the jungle! There are mosques, temples and churches are all over the place... so we can’t gather anywhere in Malaysia,” exclaimed the Bagan MP.

He pointed out that such assemblies are organised to express grouses of an agenda.

Citing Penang, as an example, Lim, who is the chief minister of the state, said that there are at least two to three protests in the island state every month.

“They are peaceful so we don’t do anything, we just have to listen to what they have to say. This is not liberation but further oppression,” stressed Lim, flanked by DAP’s Liew Chin Tong (Bukit Bendera) and Teo Nie Ching (Serdang).

Reversal of Najib's promise

PKR central leadership council member Latheefa Koya, who is a practising lawyer, said the Bill in its current form is against Article 10 of the federal constitution.

"The Peaceful Assembly Bill reminds me of Orwell's famous line - War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength," she said on Twitter.

Kampung Tunku state assemblyperson Lau Weng San said the Bill is a "total reversal" of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's famous Malaysia Day speech on Sept 15, when he promised to create more democratic space for Malaysians.

"If this is what the Peaceful Assembly Bill can give us, I have no confidence with the two new laws to replace the Internal Security Act and amendments to the Universities and University Colleges Act," Lau said on Twitter.