Hamid: ISA will remain in place - The Star

By Farik Zolkepli

KOTA TINGGI: Preventive laws, including the Internal Security Act (ISA), will not be abolished, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

Such laws serve the purpose of maintaining public order, he said when commenting on a claim by PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that Pakatan Rakyat would abolish preventive laws should they rule the country.

“The measure, which was introduced before the country’s independence, has been continued and improved.

“The ISA is not for the purpose of carrying out injustice but to protect the public’s right to live in comfort without fearing for their lives,” he said, adding that the Government could not wait for anything bad to happen before taking action.

He added that Anwar never did anything when he was deputy prime minister and it was easy for the Opposition to promise things than actually implement them.

On the five Hindraf members held under the ISA, Syed Hamid said people should look at what they had done in the first place.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/27/nation/21080581&sec=nation]