Political effectiveness in malaysia

Malaysia has experienced little political violence since serious ethnic rioting in 1969. Since 1998, supporters of the reform movement launched by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim have staged a number of largely peaceful demonstrations. In a few cases, police and demonstrators clashed, but there were no deaths or serious injuries.
As the United States pushed toward a war against Iraq in February 2003, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir denounced US policy on the Gulf country, warning that a US-led attack would be seen as a "war against Muslims." At that time, Malaysia was hosting a summit of developing nations in the 114-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which was set to adopt a declaration condemning war with Iraq.
Mahathir accused the U S of double standards in its contrasting attitudes towards North Korea and Iraq. Ironically, in early April 2003, Malaysia's own government accused its religious schools of teaching hate, not religion, and stopped their state subsidy. More than 125,000 children in Malaysia receive an Islamic education in such institutions.
The commission's long awaited report on the law, which effectively allows for indefinite detention without charge or trial, says it ignores basic rights. Malaysia's security laws date from 1960, a time when the country was locked in a bloody struggle with communist guerrillas. It allows for suspects to be held for up to two years if they are deemed to threaten national security. Police are not required to prove any wrongdoing. Detention orders can be extended indefinitely and are difficult to challenge.
In late April 2003, Malaysia's Official Human Rights Commission - Suhakam - called for the Internal Security Act to be replaced with laws modeled on Western anti-terrorism legislation. It called for any new law to outline specific offenses, for detainees to be charged or released after three months, for detention orders to be subject to judicial review and for the law to require annual renewal. As it was initiated by a government body, this report represented one of the strongest challenges yet to the country's most controversial law