In his Hundred Day address yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak identified six key areas for his administration to focus on, viz: crime prevention, combating corruption, providing greater access to quality and affordable education, improving the quality of life for the poor, improving rural infrastructure and upgrading public transportation in the medium term.
It is shocking that after 100 days as Prime Minister, Najib as nothing whatsoever to say on two of the six key areas of his premiership, namely crime prevention and combating corruption, sending out the unmistakable message that they rate very low in his order of priorities and debunking the claim that they rank as the top two items of the six key areas for his administration to focus on.
Despite giving a “blank” message of what he intend to do about fighting crime, the Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan could join in the paeans of praise for the new Prime Minister, as Musa is quoted by New Sunday Times today, saying:
“The police have done their best to tackle crime in the country and we will not let up in our efforts. From January until now, crime has been reduced by four per cent. What’s important is to address street crime such as snatch thefts and wayside robberies.”
This is a meaningless statement from the IGP, especially one who had fought a losing war against galloping crime in the past five years, with the national crime index of 156,315 cases in 2004 (which the Police Royal Commission had described as intolerably high which would only frighten off investors and deprive Malaysians of their fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime) to shoot through the 200,000 barrier in 2007 and 2008!
This is not the only reason why the country should have a new IGP and why Musa’s lobbying to get his term which expires in September to be renewed for another term should be denied.
Other important reasons why the country needs a new IGP to provide new leadership and vision towards creating a world-class police force are:
(i) Musa’s failure to fully implement 125 Police Royal Commission recommendations particularly to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police force to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights
(ii) Parliament responded to Police Royal Commission Report and tripled police allocations in the Ninth Malaysia Plan to RM8 billion as compared to the previous five years under the Eighth Malaysia Plan – but Musa failed to deliver a world-class police service which could keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.
I understand that Musa’s effort to get his term as IGP renewed for another term after September has got the support of Hishammuddin.
The Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should explain why he is supporting the renewal of Musa Hassan as Inspector-General of Police (IGP) when the latter had led a losing war against crime despite the trebling of police allocations to RM8 billion in the Ninth Malaysia Plan as compared to the previous five years under the Eighth Malaysia Plan and why he is against the appointment of another top police officer to be the No.1 Policeman in the country.
(Speech 2 at the meeting of DAP State Secretaries, Organising and Publicity Secretaries at Crystal Crown Hotel, Petaling Jaya on Sunday, July 12, 2009)
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