BN backbencher’s call to emulate Duterte’s deadly war on drugs to eradicate the drug scourge in Malaysia.
- Emulate Duterte’s way in war against drugs
- Abolish AADK which has failed in its task
- No place for the lifeless and weak, but for the outstanding
Speaking during the committee stage debate for the Home Ministry allocation under Budget 2018 yesterday, Kinabatangan MP Bung Mokhtar Radin said Malaysia should emulate the stern policies initiated by the Philippine Government under President Rodrigo Duterte in its fight against drugs.
The Umno lawmaker said the drug trafficking menace was overwhelming when Duterte assumed control of the Philippines in June last year, but the problem has since been almost eradicated.
Bung claimed that the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) has failed in its task and should be abolished as it is a waste of time and resources.
“AADK and the police’s Anti-Narcotics department had failed in carrying out their duties as the number of cases is increasing yearly. They should just dissolve AADK. It’s a waste of public time and funds.
“They keep having meetings here and there but what is the outcome? There is still no outcome,” Bung said.
He added that it was time for the Government to look for a permanent solution, by taking a page out of the Philippines’ book, which he claimed is now “drug free” since Duterte took over office in July 2016.
“Why can’t we follow the Philippines? We could just detain the drug addicts without trial and shoot the drug dealers, so our country is free from them.
“What is the problem (in doing this)? If the nation is to be clean of the drug menace, it can develop and prosper with an intelligent society. If we allow it to persist, our future will be bleak,” he said.
His remark appeared to stun the Opposition as several MPs got up and asked if he was being serious.
“Are you serious, do you feel this is a good move and are you supporting this?,” Ramkarpal Singh (DAP- Bukit Gelugor) asked Bung.
Bung replied that he was indeed serious because it was for the good of the nation and society, and the country needs more outstanding people to move it forward.
“We do not want our country to be filled with those who are lifeless, drastically weak and lacking in ideas,” he said.
He cited Ramkarpal as an example of someone who was intelligent and full of ideas as he did not take drugs.
“You are not an addict. You are bright like me. That is what we want. This is the kind of future that we want.
“Go visit the Philippines now and see how great the country has become,” Bung said, adding that the shooting of drug dealers was also practised in China.
Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed then said the proposal ran counter to international norms, and that the government did not want to undertake a measure that could affect human rights.
“If such action is taken in Malaysia, it would bring various implications, including sanctions on our economy and so on by the United Nations and other world bodies,” Nur Jazlan said.
He also said it was not feasible to close down AADK as there would be no one to aid the addicts to get back on the right path.
He explained that Duterte had also transferred its angry drug campaign to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
“I believe this was due to pressure from the international community, for him to change his policy,” he said adding that Duterte’s decision to shoot addicts and drug dealers also goes against international norms.
On Oct 7, Nur Jazlan said schoolchildren in 420 schools across Malaysia had been identified by the police and the education ministry as being at high risk of serious drug abuse.
He said random tests conducted on 36,675 schoolchildren in 2015 had found that 1,475 showed positive results for drugs.
Last year, Bung also made the same suggestion in Parliament, namely urging the government to act firmly by shooting drug addicts and traffickers to end the drug scourge, described as the nation’s number one enemy.
The Philippine Drug War has been criticised locally and internationally for its summary executions which have caused thousands of deaths due to the police operations.
It was reported that more than 14,000 people have been killed in the drug war from the time the policy was put in place to March this year