The danger and where it lies As everybody has been saying, with the ghastly bombings by terrorists still unknown in New York and Washington, the character of world politics has changed.  Things will never be the same again. Mahathir's reactions to the news of the disaster were statesmanlike and humane. He spoke in terms that all Malaysians could identify with. He sympathised with the American people, he grieved at their losses,  he condemend terrorism of any sort in the roundest terms.  At the same time, he advised the Americans not to react over-hastily and unwisely and called for an international conference to overcome the evil. And in a rarely seen touch of understanding, while deploring the rage attacks on innocent Muslims in the United States, for "it is not the right thing to do," and hoping that they would stop, he added: "But people right now are not in control of their emotions. Mahathir is usually at his best on the international stage.  Even though Malaysia's political clout is limited, Mahathir has won praise from the Third World for being outspoken on such issues as economic colonialism, racial discrimination and human rights abroad. Remember his remarks to the Western Press when he was visiting East Africa recently, calling on them to report fairly and give both sides of the story?  Syabas! Malaysia Boleh! To be a liberal and freedom fighter on the world stage costs no votes at home -- in fact, probably wins him one or two -- and raises his prestige among the downtrodden in other lands. But now we are confronted by this great American tragedy, brought about by terrorism. However, although this tragedy may have changed the character of world politics, it has not changed the character of Malaysian politics.  Things at home -- that is to say, our political affairs -- are exactly where they were before.  In other words, we are still living under a thinly-veiled autocracy. In fact, if anything, the position of those who rule over us has been strengthened yet further. The reality of the Malaysian authoritarian state has been with us for a long time now.  Its foundations were laid soon after independence and steadily built upon. The fastest phase of the building process has been in the 1980s and 1990s.  The signs are there for all who wish to read them: an emasculated parliament completely dominated by the executive; a judiciary polluted by executive interference; an electoral process tainted by bias and doubtful practices; multiple restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly; lack of free access to information; perpetual brainwashing by the  executive-controlled media; legislative repression of freedom of thought -- through the press, at the universities, amongst government servants.  And above all, of course, the ISA -- the very anithesis of all that democracy stands for. And now, terrible as it sounds, the American disaster may well reinforce the position of our authoritarian regime.  For the certainty is that the United States will find ways and means to retaliate against the terrorists and in the process mark out its friends and its foes. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has already let it be known that the United States will judge nations by whether they support or do not support the American anti-terrorist war, clearly implying that the political hue of its allies does not matter, but that cooperation does. This may be good news for authoritarian rulers who know on which side their bread is buttered.The Russians will find that they are now given a free hand in Chechnya in return for their support, and surely the Israelis will be rewarded too by being allowed to go on with their own campaign against Palestinian "terrorism". In Malaysia we can expect a broadening of the witch hunt against so called Muslim extermists, and for good measure we can already see the BN election machine in Sarawak trying to sway Sarawakian voters by issuing dire warnings against uncontrolled terrorism should the Taib Mahmud regime not be returned to power. As was only to be expected, many government men, led by our Deputy Prime Minister, have rushed in to praise the retention of the ISA as an obvous bulwark against terrorism.  But -- let us pause to reflect for one minute -- the ISA has been in force for over forty years.  How come despite its existence, terrorist groups are apparently springing up like mushrooms in our fair land? Still further reflection might lead one to ponder how effective dictatorial controls over our public life and the muzzling of public opinion are against disloyalty and subversion, and to what extent have these means been used to protect those in power and authority who themselves have strayed from the straight and narrow? Of course, the regime has one staple double-barrelled answer to all this -- stability and security, to which quite recently has been added "the protection of the rights of the majority".  In fact, Abdullah Badawi, in his capacity as Minister for Home Affairs officiating at the launching of the first anniversary celebrations of SUHAKAM, used just those words, assuring his captive audience of NGO representatives that Malaysia was still a democracy, that the rights of the majority had to be protected (against the minority) and that the ISA was essential to preserve those rights.  He added that political rights had no meaning without social and economic rights. However, he failed to remind himself and others of the corollary, that economic and social rights and well-being have no meaning without political rights. In other words, public safety (the extremists in the great French Revolution of 1789 actually ruled the country by decree through a Committee of Public Safety), which presumably embodies the "rights of the majority", is the criterion by which the Mahathir regime justifies its actions, when in truth the criteria should be both "public safety" or the common good AND the basic rights of the individual citizen. This is where the danger lies.  One of the basic concerns of all citizens must be to ensure that power held by any particular individual or group is not used solely in pursuit of his or its own advantage.  Throughout history, this is a goal - which men and women have struggled to achieve, often at the cost of their own lives, against despotic kings, feudal lords and dictators. This is what democracy is all about. And for us in Malaysia today, the challenge has never been greater. D.J Muzaffar Tate

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