Pakatan Rakyat is convening a Parliamentary Roundtable on a new Inspector-General of Police for a safe Malaysia in Parliament next Tuesday July 28, 2009 at 10 am.

The Parliamentary Roundtable, which is convened by the Pakatan Rakyat parliamentary leadership Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and myself, invites all Members of Parliament, whether Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, from both houses, Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, as well as leaders of professional and human right organizations, NGOs, civic organizations and concerned stakeholders to jointly deliberate on how to restore to Malaysians two lost fundamental rights – to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

In recent years, the crime rate in the country has reached endemic proportion making the streets, public places and even the privacy of our homes unsafe to Malaysians, visitors and investors.

In its report in May 2005 commenting on the latest crime statistics available to it, i.e. 156,455 incidents of crime in 2004, which was an increase of 29 per cent from 121,176 cases in 1997, the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission said:

“The increase seriously dented Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country. Malaysians in general, the business sector and foreign investors grew increasingly concerned with the situation. The fear was that, if the trend continues, there would be major social and economic consequences for Malaysia. A survey of 575 respondents from the public carried out by the Commission clearly demonstrates the extremely widespread concern among all ethnic groups and foreign residents. Between 82.2 per cent and 90 per cent of the respondents, or 8 to 9 persons in every 10, were concerned with the occurrence of crime.” (3.1 p.108 Report)
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