Gerakan joins Liberal International

Liberal International decided on 24 June 2006 in Manila to grant observer status to Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia. Party Vice President and Senator Dato’ Dr. Vijayaretnam stated that the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats have played a premier role in motivating Parti Gerakan to pursue the membership in this international alliance of liberal parties.

In an interview with FNF Project Diretor Rainer Heufers, Dato’ Dr. Vijayaretnam explained that Parti Gerakan joined Liberal International (LI) primarily to emphasize that Gerakan is a party which promotes liberal ideals. In his opinion, the move to become a member in such a reputable international organization will be favourably viewed by the Malaysian public.

Dato’ Dr. Vijayaretnam sees liberal democracy as the global political trend and hence it is “only a matter of time for it to bloom and prosper”. In Malaysia, he finds this all the more the case under the more liberal leadership of the new Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The party’s move, however, should also be understood as a reciprocal matter. Dato’ Dr. Vijayaretnam emphasized that Gerakan will be able to provide the LI member parties and the liberal movement with a feed-back on developments in Malaysia. Gerakan can also draw on the Malaysian experiences to advise LI and its member parties in matters concerning multiethnic and multireligious societies.

Asked about how Gerakan tries to push the liberal agenda in Malaysia, Dato’ Dr. Vijayaretnam explained that the party has supported the recent call for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. It also used its position in the ruling coalition to ask for the relaxation of the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Printing and Publishing Act as well as the Universities and Colleges Act, which are three examples of draconian illiberal laws in Malaysia. While under current circumstances these laws will not be immediately abolished, Gerakan has nevertheless called for the rights of ISA detainees to access lawyers, to see family members, and generally to a humane treatment. Eventually, it is the hope of Gerakan that all those laws will be repealed.

Dato’ Dr. Vijayaretnam welcomes the membership in Liberal International because it will help the liberal agenda of Gerakan. LI can provide ideas and input in arguments against movements that run counter to liberalism. LI President Lord John Alderdice and the leadership of LI are invited to come to Malaysia and talk to the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers about liberal policy options. They are prominent international leaders and may influence national discussions in Malaysia. Also, representatives of Muslim member parties in LI may effectively support the Malaysian government and its notion that Islam is compatible with democracy and liberalism.

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