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Malaysia: Armed forces ready to intervene says police chief
New Straits Times - July 3, 2008
Kuala Lumpur – Cooperation between the police and armed forces is necessary to maintain public order and security in the country. With this in mind, the two security forces launched a joint safety exercise at the Police College in Cheras yesterday.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said cooperation was crucial because political parties, non-governmental organisations and individuals were, of late, organising more illegal assemblies.
"It is crucial, and the right time, for the forces to organise and plan strategies to carry out duties in maintaining public order as outlined in the public order manual," he said.
The exercise, which began yesterday and ends on Monday, is to get planners to understand what it takes to coordinate efforts between the two forces should the need arise.
Musa said the joint exercise, whose focus is on the Klang Valley, especially Kuala Lumpur, Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya, was to show that public order problems could be tackled properly and efficiently by both forces.
Asked if this meant that the armed forces would be used to tackle illegal assemblies, he said this would only be so if absolutely necessary and an emergency had to be declared.
Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Zainal said the exercise was the first of two phases. In this phase, discussions would be held to work out certain procedures.
The second phase involved actual deployment of forces. Legal officers of both forces would advise on the legal aspects of tackling any crisis.
"Such activities (the exercise) have to be carried out so that a standard operating procedure can be worked out. Without such exercises, there will be no coordination when a real threat arises," he said.
The joint military-police exercise was announced as a mass opposition rally against the recent 41% petrol/67% diesel fuel hikes was being built for this Sunday (July 6), and opposition Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim released evidence implicating the deputy prime minister in an alleged murder cover-up.
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