The recent arrest of Nathanniel Tan, a blogger and the call by Umno to the police to take action against 'Malaysia Today', a much visited blog by Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, reflect the growing trend towards stifling dissent in our country.

Despite earlier promises of allowing freedom of the electronic media as part of the effort to promote the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), the government has reneged on these promises by suppressing blog sites deemed to air views critical of the government.

The action against Tan and the call to take action against 'Malaysia Today' are the latest in a series of undemocratic moves by the government. Another recent action in this series of moves was the ban imposed on the mainstream media by the Internal Security Ministry on the publication of views challenging the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

The stand of many who question that Malaysia is not an Islamic state is not allowed to be carried, while those by the Deputy Prime Minister that Malaysia is already an Islamic state is permitted.

The MCA secretary-general, who rightly argued that Malaysia is a secular state, has even been warned by the education minister not to make any more such statements. Some films, whose messages differ from the official stand, have earlier been banned, while statements challenging official statistics on the bumiputera equity ownership have likewise been disallowed.

These trends, if not stopped, will further erode the democratic space, which is already limited, in our country. All who are opposed to such undemocratic moves, whether within the ruling coalition or outside, must now unite in pursuit of the common goal to protect the right to dissent and the right to freedom of speech, both which are rights that must be highly valued.

As we move forward, the government cannot just be contented with promoting development to the neglect of promoting human rights. Civil and political rights such as the right to free speech, right to dissent and right to assemble are as important as economic rights such as the right to a job, to housing, to medical care and education.

Promoting economic growth while curbing civil and political freedom will not lead us to the achievement of a developed nation. This is not what most Malaysians want. What they desire is a nation that achieves material progress that is equitably distributed, while allowing a great deal of space for the exercise of political and civil rights, of which the right to start an electronic website or blog, even if this is critical of the government, is one.

The writer is executive councillor of Penang from Gerakan.