Let me put into points;
1) He will tackle the country's most controversial law, the Internal Security Act (ISA). This law allows detention without trial. He said the law needs to be reviewed.
2) According to the law revision, 13 detainees will be released. These detainees are activists, members of political movements, or they were accused of something. Some of the detainees are leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which raises vioce for the Indian minority in Malaysia.
3) He has lifted 3-month ban on the two opposition newspaper.
Sure, this can be seen as nothing but a propaganda building up government's credibility. But if we are to be optimistic enough, we can see that what seems to be an important issue for this new PM is freedom of expression.
According to the news, he said "It must be a government with new approaches for new times - a government that places a priority on performance because the people must come first"
This might relect something to Malaysia's neihbour.
"THE PEOPLE MUST COME FIRST" - A slogan of the Democrat Party, Thailand's political party. But how has this slogan been practiced?
Let me put into points;
1) Not only one of the most controversial law of the country, the Lese Majeste, has been untouched, there is a potential to increase penalty on such law. Recently, Suwicha Thakor is going to jail for 10 years on Lese Majeste. Also, an Australian journalist has a lot to tell when he was in prison due to the same accusation. (New Mandala host a campaign on LM's reform in which you could find a lot of details)
2) Prachatai.com, an alternative online newspaper, was raided and the editor, Khun Chiranuch, was arrested and charged with computer crime act (the news is here and a reflection is here).
3) The Rohingya incident was still in public scrutiny, but not much has been done, only lip service from Thailand's PM.
In terms of freedom of expression and human rights problems, I see Malaysia is hoping to get back on track.
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