De facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim said a host of laws governing everything from the right to peaceful assembly to anti-corruption has become a "tangled skein that cries out for unravelling."

Referring to the stalemate arrived at by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) in their investigation into the Batu Buruk incident, Anwar said: "Isn't it remarkable that just when Suhakam concluded that they cannot arrive at a finding as to who caused the riot in Batu Buruk, the opposition has reason to believe that in the parliamentary constituency of Ipoh Timur there has been what seems to be a dubious padding of the electoral rolls."

"In other words, the concerns raised by Bersih, the non governmental body concerned with ensuring a clean election, at Batu Buruk last month have now been given credence by what has seemingly happened in Ipoh Timur," he commented.

Legitimate concerns

Anwar was referring to the discovery of more than 8,000 new voters in the electoral rolls for Ipoh Timur, names that were not on the rolls of that constituency before April this year, giving rise to suspicions of gerrymandering.

"The concerns raised by Bersih are legitimate and their gathering at Batu Buruk was an expression of this justifiable concern," he elaborated.

Anwar held that if Suhakam were stymied by the court proceedings against an individual charged with alleged offences against law in the Batu Buruk incident, then "they should go flat out to change Section 27 of the Police Act 1997 such that the right to peaceful assembly is respected by the authorities and protected by the police."

He claimed that the host of laws on the statue books governing everything from demonstrations to the battle against corruption has become a "tangled skein that cries out for unraveling as monitoring bodies such as Suhakam cannot carry out their work because of crosscurrents generated by the tangle."

Anwar said these laws have to be ironed out such that citizens of a democracy are not oppressed by the "deadweight of the law."