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©The Malaysian Insider (Used by permission)

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Even during the worst of times in 1998, when pro-Reformasi supporters took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur to protest the jailing of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the army stayed in the barracks. Crowd control and public order in Malaysia was in the hands of the police, like it has been for decades since the race riots in 1969.

The men in blue jealously guarded their turf and the government felt that the sight of men in green fatigues with M16s on patrol duty on the streets of Kuala Lumpur would put the country on par with war-torn African states and unstable East European nations, and conjure up the image of a country under emergency.

This could change this week.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said yesterday that the police and armed forces will be holding a joint public order exercise until Monday and the military will be called in to maintain public order if the security situation in Malaysia deteriorates.

“The exercise is also to enhance the cooperation between the police and the army, besides helping improve coordination, logistics and communication between the two forces,” he added.

Army chief Jen Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Zainal said the exercise would be held in two phases to better enhance implementation during a national security-threatening scenario.

“The first phase will involve discussions and, when the time is right, proceed to deployment,” he said, adding that the idea was mooted about two years ago.

Security agencies are on an alert to deal with possible public order issues on Saturday when a mammoth rally will be held in Petaling Jaya to protest the increase in fuel prices. The rally is being organised by the People’s Anti-Oil Manipulation Movement (Geramm) — a coalition of non-governmental organisations and the youth wing of Pakatan Rakyat.

Initially, they believed that several thousand protestors could turn up on Saturday. But now they believe that the numbers could swell dramatically. The reason: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is using the rally to kick off a nationwide roadshow to proclaim his innocence against the sodomy charge levelled by his aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, against him.

Musa assured people that the armed forces will only be used after consultations between officials from the Home Ministry and the Defence Ministry. This is scant consolation for Malaysians who are only used to seeing troops march on the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Aug 31 as part of National Day celebrations.

News of the joint operations between police and the armed forces to maintain public order is being debated in blogosphere with the more conspiratorial arguing that this could set the stage for emergency rule in the country. Government officials are dismissing that notion, saying that police do not have the resources to deal to tackle crime and also maintain law and order across the country.

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