Inter Press Service: 20 January 2000
MEDIA: CRITICS' BOYCOTT OF MALAYSIAN PRO-GOVT PRESS RAISES STAKES
Stung by the Malaysian
government's crackdown on a top opposition newspaper, its
political critics have called for a boycott of selected pro-
government media from Feb 1. The opposition-led boycott would be the second such campaign
launched by opposition parties and different pressure groups since
the ouster of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in
September 1998.
By ANIL NETTO in Penang
STUNG by the Malaysian
government's crackdown on a top opposition newspaper, its
political critics have called for a boycott of selected pro-
government media from Feb 1.
The opposition-led boycott would be the second such campaign
launched by opposition parties and different pressure groups since
the ouster of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in
September 1998.
The first boycott in late 1998 led to a drop in the sales of
several pro-government newspapers, a plunge that analysts say
partly was aided by the mainstream dailies' own ''biased''
reporting and their falling credibility following Anwar's ouster.
''We have set a three-month period to boycott selected
media,'' says Tian Chua, vice president of the opposition National
Justice Party (keADILan), which is headed by Anwar's wife, Wan
Azizah Wan Ismail.
The National Justice Party, the Islamic Party (PAS), the
Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Malaysian Peoples Party
(PRM) are members of the opposition Barisan Alternatif
(Alternative Front).
The front is aiming the boycott at three pro-government media
outfits. These are two dailies -- the English-language New Straits
Times and the Malay-language 'Utusan Malaysia' -- and a private
television station, TV3.
Just as in the first boycott, the opposition parties are
expected to join hands with rights groups and trade unions in
shunning the pro-government media.
''The aim is to raise the consciousness of the people to create
some sort of awareness that the media is an important institution
in a democracy and it shouldn't be controlled by one voice,'' Tian
told IPS. ''We will not allow the media to be abused by the
authorities.''
A hunger for alternative political views and coverage in the
past year has pushed up the circulation of the PAS-owned biweekly
'Harakah', whose circulation soared from 65,000 to more than
300,000 in the run-up to the general election in November.
But within weeks of the poll, which saw the ruling coalition
led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad losing key sets in
Parliament, the government struck.
First, it started to strictly enforce a ruling in Harakahs
publication permit restricting sales to PAS party members only. As
a result, the paper could no longer be sold at newsstands and had
to be sold at PAS branch offices.
The move effectively blocked the bilingual tabloids easy
availability to non-members, and newspaper officials say sales
fell to about 250,000.
Then on Jan 12, both Harakah editor Zulkifli Sulong and its
printer Chea Lim Thye were arrested for publishing an allegedly
''seditious'' article in August.
To overcome the 'members only' ruling, PAS is applying to the
Home Ministry to turn its party organ, Harakah, into a daily
newspaper that can be sold to the public. But a decision on the
application is unlikely to be quick, given the high political
stakes involved.
Meantime, PAS has turned the Internet version of Harakah into a
daily interactive edition.
Critical editors are not the only ones feeling the heat.
There has already been a major casualty even among the ranks of
the pro-government media: the Singapore 'Straits Times' reported
that Kadir Jasin, the group chief editor of the New Straits Times
Press, is making way after 12 years at the helm.
Kadir's reported departure suggests that official circles are
dissatisfied that the English-language 'New Straits Times' --
along with its sister publications -- did not effectively
'explain' issues during the election campaign and was a factor in
the seats lost by the ruling colaition.
In that poll the ruling coalition suffered a sharp erosion in
support from the country's majority ethnic Malays, fewer than half
of whom voted for the dominant United Malays National
Organisation.
The editorial change also indicates nervousness ahead of UMNO's
party polls in May. The UMNO supreme council had 'advised' its
divisions to ensure a no-contest for the top two posts, a move
that has led to rumblings within the party.
Mahathir heads the party while the vacant deputy presidents
post is expected to go uncontested to UMNO vice president Abdullah
Badawi, now deputy premier.
Kadir's fate, said DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang, was sealed when
the 'New Straits Times' recently published articles advocating
that a contest should be allowed at least for the UMNO deputy
president's post.
''It may be cruel but one can be excused to think of the
saying, that one who lives by the sword will die by the sword -
except that Kadir can still look to a life of comfort,'' said Lim.
The arrests of the Harakah duo served as a reminder to editors
and printers that they could be charged under a battery of laws if
they overstep the limits drawn by the authorities.
Apart from the Sedition Act, there is the Internal Security Act
which allows detention without trial.
The government also has the Printing Presses and Publications
Act, which gives the home minister -- Abdullah also holds this
portfolio -- vast discretionary powers when approving or revoking
publication permits. The minister's decision is final and cannot
be challenged in court.
Under this law, all publishers have to apply for a fresh annual
publication permit, which is not regarded as a renewal of their
previous permit. Approval is not guaranteed and critical
publications often wait in uncertainty.
One such example is the Malay-language bimonthly 'Detik', whose
permit expired in November. Its status is now in limbo and the
magazine has already fallen four issues behind, as its management
awaits approval of the new permit.
Detik was one of five publications, including Harakah, that
were warned for violating various conditions in their permits.
Malaysian law also requires printing firms to apply for an
annual printing permit from the Home Ministry. Not surprisingly,
printing firms are often wary of taking on jobs from opposition
parties or critical publishers.
Meantime, the Malaysia Printers Association has reportedly
asked the government to amend the law so that printing firms will
not be held liable for the contents of publications they print.
Its chairman, Chung Tong Lim, said the association had made the
request in a memorandum to the government on two previous
occasions. It was unfair for printers to be held liable for the
contents of publications as they did not have the time to read
through the contents of publications of all their clients, he
said.
All eyes will be focused in the coming months on the media
battle underway in Malaysia, one which comes on the heels of
greater political activism unleashed by public reactions to the
arrest of Anwar.
The government has the state machinery and laws to keep watch
over media, but the opposition is hoping that its boycott call
will strike the pro-government media where it hurts most: falling
sales and profits. (END/IPS/ap-ip-cr/an/js/00)
= 01201222 DIA001
= 01200720 ORP004
NNNN