Malaysia

As Malaysian opposition parties and social activists, emboldened by advances in the March general elections, prepared to hold a giant protest against recent oil price hike (petrol up 41%, diesel up 67%) in Kuala Lumpur on July 6, a series of disturbing events unfolded.
The National Front (BN) government led by PM Abdullah Badawi has been shaky since the March general election that returned a much stronger parliamentary opposition — now largely united in a new People’s Front (Pakatan Rakyat).
“The announcement by the Prime Minister of increasing the price of fuel by 78 sen and increasing diesel by RM1 added with the increase in electricity as well lifting the cap on chicken prices tantamounts to a declaration of war against the ordinary people of Malaysia”, S.Arutchelvan, the secretary general of the Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM) declared in a June 5 statement.
There have been dramatic developments in Malaysia since the ruling National Front (BN) government had its majority in parliament reduced sharply in the March 8 general elections. Opposition parties, which won five out of 13 state governments, formed
On March 18, Peter Boyle, the national secretary of the Democratic Socialist Perspective — a Marxist tendency in the Socialist Alliance — interviewed S. Arutchelvan, the secretary general of the Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM), about the PSM’s electoral successes in the March 12 general elections. This interview was originally published by socialist e-journal Links at .
Below is a March 9 statement by the Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM). For more information, visit .
Malaysia's National Front (BN) government continues to refuse the Malaysian Socialist Party's (PSM) application to register as a political party, claiming that the PSM is a threat to national security. On the basis that the right to form a
It was a victory long overdue. The corporate giant — plantation company Lion Group — could have resolved the issue a decade ago, but it chose the path of arrogance and sheer disregard for its toiling workers.
Leaders of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) have vowed to defy court rulings banning them from participating in public assemblies. The court orders were placed on 35 opposition party and grassroots activists who were charged with illegal assembly following a January 26 protest against price hikes imposed by the government-owned oil corporation, Petronas.
If lawyers are coming to the street, then something is very wrong, Ambiga Sreenevasan, the Malaysian Bar Council’s president, said on September 26 when she addressed bar members gathered at the Palace of Justice.
From June 1-3 in Port Dickson, the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) held its ninth congress. It was the party’s largest so far. The PSM’s plans for the coming year include trying to win at least one seat in the coming election, holding a public forum on Venezuela, redesigning the party’s website, producing more socialist booklets and holding a national forum on 50 years of Malaysian independence and left politics. The party also resolved to hold an international conference in 2008. A resolution adopted by the conference condemned authorities’ refusal to nationally register the PSM as a party as an anti-socialist “political conspiracy”. Solidarity messages were received from a range of socialist organisations, including Australia’s Democratic Socialist Perspective.