Why BN is shy to join the Bersih rally?

Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng at 10 Nov 2007 illegal march

So was Hadi Awang and Khalid Ibrahim

Bersih organisers have vowed the rally will carry on July 9 unless the Najib administration puts in place measures including the use of indelible ink, clean-up of electoral rolls, fair access for both government and opposition leaders to TV and mainstream media so as to get their messages across.

Some of Bersih recommendations to EC.

1. Automatic registration of prospective voter at age 21.

2. Reforms to the postal voting system for out-of-town voters.

3. Use of indelible ink to avoid repeat voting

4. Opposition of having access to the MSM (mainstream media).

5. Minimum campaign period of 21 days so as to deny the opposition the time to reach the far corners of the country and to get their message across to the electorates.

6. Independence of enforcement bodies on election offenses.

7. Stamping out electoral graft.

Polis Malaysia jaga keamanan negara atau menjaga tepi kain parti politik ate budak suruhan UMNO

Ceramah PAS di Kepala Batas tegang

Susan Loone
Jul 1, 11
9:32am

Ceramah PAS yang diadakan di Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang, malam semalam tegang apabila kira-kira 100 anggota polis tiba-tiba muncul di tapak cermah itu.

Sebahagian daripada 600 hadirin kemudiannya bertindak membuat benteng bagi menghalang polis memasuki pusat operasi parti itu di Pongsu Seribu.

Pasukan polis yang tiba itu juga termasuk kira-kira 50 anggota Pasukan Gerak Am yang tiba pada jam 10.15 malam. Mereka disambut dengan teriakan “mereka dah datang, tutup pintu pagar!”

Akibatnya, berlaku sedikit kekocohan dan kesesakan lalu lintas apabila anggota polis bertindak mengawal di jalan berkenaan.

Sekumpulan pasukan keselamatan PAS yang berjaket kuning kemudiannya mententeramkan hadirin dan menghalang mereka mendekati anggota polis berkenaan.

Juruacara majlis kemudiannya meminta orang ramai supaya tidak 'panik' kerana ceramah yang dianjurkan itu dibuat dalam lingkungan kawasan PAS sambil berkata “mereka tidak boleh berbuat apa-apa kerana ini tanah kita sendiri”.

Malaysia fast sliding into a police state

Jul 1, 11 7:53am

'What law has Gopeng MP Dr Lee Boon Chye broken by wearing a yellow T-shirt in the market? It was not even a Bersih T-shirt. It was just a yellow T-shirt.'

Gopeng MP, state rep nabbed for wearing yellow

Changeagent: Malaysia is fast descending into an undemocratic, totalitarian and repressive police state, if it hasn't already. Where else in the world are the people micro-managed to the point that even wearing clothing of certain colours becomes illegal and leads to high-handed police arrests?

Add to the fact that we are not allowed to hold peaceful vigils, eat cake in public, listen to Lady Gaga's 'Born this way', wear Manchester United gears or read Zunar's cartoons, this is all political madness gone too far.

Watching sex videos with an actor who barely resembles Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is just about the only thing we are allowed to do these days.

DannyLoHH: The police has become a law unto themselves. The IGP (inspector-general of police) has turned Malaysia into a police state. The home minister decree is now law, where all things yellow is illegal.

What law has Gopeng MP Dr Lee Boon Chye broken by wearing a yellow T-shirt in the market? It was not even a Bersih T-shirt. It was just a yellow T-shirt! Lee should sue the police who arrested him for abuse of power and wrongful arrest.

The police are showing all Malaysians why there is a dire need for Malaysia to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). The police force is out of control, they are now arresting people without any legal basis.

Ipoh2: It is unbecoming for the police to handcuff and manhandle an elected MP. This is very disrespectful for the position that he holds as a representative of the rakyat and as a lawmaker. The police is the real stooge of a government that has been corrupted by Umno/BN.

Joe Lee: According to Wikipedia, "The term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population.

"A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive."

Okay, we can understand PM Najib Razak, former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein panicking about losing the next elections. But please, the police must at least have some sense in their heads.

Doing what they are doing just reflects '1Malaysia Bodoh'. You are a bunch of idiots who cannot live without your feudal knee-jerk reaction to anything that may threaten your super-corrupt thieving lives.

You have sucked blood from the riches of the country, and you think you can do that for generations to come. Well, we have news for you. Your 'Mubarak' moment is coming. You'll have to answer for your crime.

Lexicon: By arresting a respected MP for wearing yellow and handcuffing him, the police are winning votes for Pakatan Rakyat. No harm done to Lee or Bersih, but plenty of damage done to Umno - and Malaysia's reputation. Use your brains, PDRM, if you are able.

4thForce: These ridiculous things happened in Perak where the sultan is a former lord president and the silence from the palace continues to be deafening. Obviously the rakyat can't turn to the sultans for protection. The powers-that-be continues to act without regards for the law.

FairMind: BN lost big time in the last general elections not so much because of corruption but because of their arrogance. The arrests in Perak showed the whole world how arrogant the police are and how birds of the same feathers flock together to protect their tuft and equally corrupt masters.

Chinese Malaysians are normally passive and reluctant to take to the streets. Seeing the bravery of Lee and others in dealing with the arrogant and aggressive police is very telling that the Chinese are already up to their neck in frustration with the police and BN. Elsewhere I see Malays and Indians are doing the same thing.

It is very evident all the citizens across the board are fed up. If the government and the police don't allow the Bersih rally this coming July 9, the frustration of the rakyat will blow up in the face of BN.

Election Fan: I am going to make yellow my only colour for my shirts. If only 10 percent of Malaysians are doing the same thing like me, I am wondering how many they can catch. Let us paint the nation yellow till July 9.

Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: Shouldn't the cops likewise be arrested for wearing yellow vests? And since we're at it, shouldn't all the royals be locked up on July 9 too for wearing yellow as they normally would?

Yellow: Saya adalah seorang guru. Bolehkah saya beritahu pelajar, "Awak semua mesti pakai pakaian 'Bersih' ke sekolah'? Sekolah saya juga menggunakan lima warna untuk mewakili rumah sukan. Adakah Rumah Kuning diharamkan?

OneOldFatGuy: Since Bersih 2.0 which the government has declared illegal has yet to happen, what happens if Bersih 2.0 actually doesn't happen? Are all these arrests deem wrongful arrest? Can the detainees sue the PDRM and the home minister?

Anonymous: This is getting out of hand, behaving high and mighty. I am getting out of my house with a yellow blouse and yellow handbag. Don't tell me I cannot do that.

Mikotan: I drive a yellow car. Will I be arrested also?

UMNO fears Malaysian unity in Bersih march

It is about Malaysians of different ethnicities and religious persuasions marching side-by-side, holding hands, looking out for one another and, in one united voice, demanding free, fair and clean elections in the pursuit of better governance.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

SEE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x3SjSgqXGc

The government wants to stop the planned BERSIH march of 9th July 2011. They government says it fears that the BERSIH event may get out of control and will escalate into an Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, etc., situation.

That may be only part of the reason but is not the more important reason.

The real and more important reason is that the government is worried the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs, Ibans, Dayaks, Kadazan-Dusuns, Bajaus, Bidayuhs, Orang Ulu, Orang Asli, Muruts, Bugis, Menangkabaus, Boyans, Javanese, Arabs, Pakistanis, Mamaks, Thais, Portuguese, ‘lain-lain’, etc., may unite on 9th July 2011.

Any student of history knows that unity is bad for despotic or autocratic regimes. A mere few thousand colonialists can control a country of hundreds of millions as long as the people are divided. But once the people unite the colonial government is going to face a host of problems.

And that was why the British mastered the game of ‘divide and rule’. Divide and rule works well when a handful of people want to dominate the masses. The local population can outnumber the invaders 100,000 to one. That is not a problem as long as the 100,000 are not united. The problem begins when the 100,000 unite and gang up on the one.

How do you think 191 Umno division heads have been able to dominate a Malaysia of 28 million people? That is because of the system they have set up where 191 Umno division heads decide who becomes the Prime Minister and the rest of the 28 million Malaysians are divided by race and religion.

The BERSIH march of 9th July 2011 threatens to unite all Malaysians irrespective of race and religion. The government saw this happen on 10th November 2007 during the BERSIH 1.0 march. And this has put fear in the government because BERSIH 2.0 may prove to be bigger and better than BERSIH 1.0.

In 2007 the politicians headed BERSIH 1.0, and mostly Malays at that too. BERSIH 2.0 is not being headed by politicians -- and not a Malay on top of that. This is bad news for the government.

The only weapon the government has to use against its own people -- just like many despotic and autocratic governments the world over since thousands of years -- is the fear factor. So the government is throwing everything including the kitchen sink against BERSIH. The government is trying to put fear into the hearts and minds of Malaysians -- the fear that 9th July 2011 may turn into another 13th May 1969.

The race and religion card plus threats of riots and loss of life is being played to the hilt. The government hopes that the ‘gutless’ and ‘selfish’ Chinese will be intimidated and will stay home -- or even better: go down to Singapore or up to Bangkok for a weekend ‘holiday’. The government hopes that the Malays will see BERSIH 2.0 as a Christian plot to undermine Islam and a Chinese conspiracy to erode Malay political power so that the Malays can be reduced to second-class citizens in their own country.

But if all these efforts fail and the Chinese are not intimidated by all this talk of race-religion riots and the Malays are not fooled by all this talk of Christian plots and Chinese conspiracies then the government is screwed big time, super-big time.

So BERSIH 2.0 needs to be thwarted. No stone must be left unturned to ensure that BERSIH 2.0 fails. If it succeeds then all is lost.

It is not about the danger of Malaysia turning into Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, or even Beirut. That is not what the government fears.

It is about Malaysians of different ethnicities and religious persuasions marching side-by-side, holding hands, looking out for one another and, in one united voice, demanding free, fair and clean elections in the pursuit of better governance.

That is what the government fears above all else.

So what are we, Malaysians of various ethnicities and religious persuasions, going to do on 9th July 2011? You tell me.

Najib will be the ultimate loser in the coming General Election and will be ousted just like his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Badawi

The hype and exaggeration of the consequences of the Bersih Rally – civil commotion, financial losses in the RM billions, the takeover of the government, the revival of communism, etc. – is another symptom of an administration under siege and devoid of any creative response to what is otherwise a non-issue.

By Matthias Chang

There are four main factions in UMNO, three of which are determined to prevent the PM's faction from gaining an overwhelming upper-hand and a repetition of "Pak Lah's political theatrics" – when the family-in-laws included ruled supreme. This is so typical of "Malay politics". Can you imagine the wannabes waiting for 15 years or more to have a bite at the political cherry?

The era of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was an exception and only because he was a visionary and a pragmatic leader, and an act that is hard to follow. The trend for all future leaders will assuredly be one term, as there are just too many in the queue to be the next prime minister.

The Prime Minister is a seasoned politician, adept at surviving the back-stabbing and double-dealings inherent in all political power-grabs. So why is he reacting in such a high-handed manner to the Bersih challenge?

A heavy-handed reaction – threats of incarceration under the Internal Security Act, threats of unleashing sectarian / racial violence by the likes of Perkasa, the unnecessary posturing by UMNO Youth and its irrelevant leader, Khairy (off to join the Gaza Flotilla to get some brownie points where he has no credibility in advancing the just struggles of the Palestinians), the raid of Bersih's office and the confiscation of its materials etc., but no police action against UMNO Youth's disorderly conduct outside PKR's headquarters even when they threatened to burn down the building – indicates the administration's one track mentality in solving problems, not that the Bersih Rally is a problem.

The hype and exaggeration of the consequences of the Bersih Rally – civil commotion, financial losses in the RM billions, the takeover of the government, the revival of communism, etc. – is another symptom of an administration under siege and devoid of any creative response to what is otherwise a non-issue.

To declare that it is a crime and or illegal to wear any clothing in yellow bearing the logo "Bersih" is sheer stupidity. And the Home Minister is a lawyer by training! If such clampdown is to demonstrate the power of UMNO and nothing else, then the year long campaign that we are "1Malaysia" rings hollow and that the Barisan Nasional government has no faith in its policies especially its "Economic Transformation Programme" (ETP), the political crown jewel of Najib's administration.

If Barisan Nasional needs brute force to cow the people to vote for it, as opposed to using rational arguments and sound policies, it will be the end of the Barisan Nasional. The Barisan Nasional would be giving the Opposition a walk over in the next General Election.

The Election Commission is an independent agency. This is the mantra that the BN government never ceases to affirm.

Everyone is for a free and fair election.

The 2008 General Election is the best evidence that elections were conducted fairly, as the Opposition took over five state governments and reduced the BN two-thirds majority in Parliament, a historic achievement by the Opposition Coalition.

Bersih has assured the nation that the rally would be peaceful and its intention is to deliver a memorandum for a fair and clean election to the King.

We shall hold them to their word and promise.

How long would the Bersih Rally be, in the absence of any police action? At the most, one and half hours, and thereafter, they would have to disperse, again peacefully. End of the story. Nothing happens, no news worthy of a headline in the front page of the local mainstream media or for that matter the foreign media.

The police can agree to a pre-designated route to avoid creating traffic jams and unnecessary inconvenience to the public.

There is no need for the deployment of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) or the military. What is needed is traffic police to assist the organizers.

This is all that is required.

Any leader associated with the Bersih Rally would lose credibility if they allow the rally to turn ugly or violent. In those circumstances, the security forces would have every justification to take stern action and they can be deployed quickly.

Let us not make a mountain out of a mole-hill!

My advice to the Prime Minister is simple. Be at the gate of the Agong's palace to stand in solidarity with the participants and show support for their civic-mindedness and assure all those peaceful participants that every effort will be made to ensure a fair and clean election as was the case in 2008 and all previous elections.

Why is there a need for Perkasa to have a counter-rally, when it is not even part of the Barisan Nasional? Whether BN likes it or not, Perkasa is perceived as being thuggish and provocative. It may have a role in serving a Malay agenda (rallying Malays to vote for UMNO), but it will not be able to deliver the Malay votes. It is a sad reflection of UMNO that it needs Perkasa, an external force to rally Malay voters and when its leader is not even a member of UMNO, but an "independent" Member of Parliament. This is really pathetic!

Why must UMNO Youth behave in a manner that is perceived as racial and repugnant?

Perkasa undermines the Barisan Nasional. It cannot deliver on its own merits and has no mass following, if UMNO members do not join its ranks.

I challenge Perkasa to deliver 50,000 members to march peacefully to the Agong's palace to assure the entire nation that they too are for fair and clean elections, not on the 9th July 2011 but on a separate occasion so that we can see for ourselves the true strength of Perkasa and whether it genuinely reflects the aspirations of the Malay community and the Barisan Nasional.

If Barisan Nasional wants to commit suicide and lose the next General Election, then follow Perkasa's sectarian bravado and Khairy's infantile opportunism.

If Barisan Nasional insists on adopting the sledge hammer approach to the Bersih Rally, they will lose the next election. The blowback will be intense and unforgiving. And if Najib is naïve and foolish enough to declare an emergency and launch another Operation Lalang, the Chinese and Indian voters will abandon Barisan Nasional in droves and whatever efforts thus far to win back their allegiance will go up in smoke. This is a given.

Remember also that as a Muslim country, we are also a target of the neo-cons' agenda. Those outside forces who are hell bent to destabilize Muslim countries are waiting for an excuse to subvert Malaysia.

The Bersih Rally is a non-issue and can be diffused quietly and without any fanfare.

I trust common sense will prevail.

Bersih Rally a Turning Point for Democracy

Umno also realizes that it has committed too many wrongs that betray the people’s interest, and more people have come to know of these through the fast growing alternative media. Combined with the growing influence of opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat, the coming rally could be a powerful demonstration of the people’s will to reclaim sovereignty from the long-reigning kleptocracy through electoral reforms. That is something that Umno does not want to see happening.

By Kim Quek

Amidst the frenzy of draconian measures to prevent the July 9 Bersih rally from taking place, many Malaysians have begun to wonder: Has Malaysia descended into a state of lawlessness?

No sooner had Home Minister declared that wearing the yellow Bersih T-shirt was illegal, the Inspector General of Police up the ante by announcing that even “shoes, cars, buses or any medium that promote the Bersih rally are illegal, as this amounts to sedition”, and he said the people involved will be arrested.

To date, more than a hundred people have been arrested all over the country in the past four days, mainly for wearing the yellow Bersih shirts.

To me, this sounds like someone speaking and acting as if he is the absolute monarch who can order the arrest of anyone at his whims, and whose word is law. For nowhere in the Malaysian law can you find a provision that allow a minister or a police officer to declare an item such as the Bersih shirt illegal or to arrest someone before a crime is committed or suspected to have been committed. The Bersih rally is not even held, so how can a crime be committed in connection with the rally?

BERSIH ABOVE BOARD

So, what has driven the Minister and the IGP into such extreme conduct of resorting to brazenly unlawful exercise of power?

Is Bersih a terrorist organization that plots to overthrow the government by violence? Is Bersih calling people to break laws and create chaos? What terrible deeds have Bersih done to cause such phobia in the authorities that they should strike at everything that moves, so to speak, that smells of Bersih?

None of that.

Bersih is a civil society movement participated by sixty two non-government organizations to campaign for electoral reforms. . And the July 9 rally is specifically called to address the problem of the authorities’ recalcitrance to institute any form of reform. Despite persistent requests over many years, the Election Commission and the incumbent ruling coalition Barisan Nasional have not moved even one inch towards reforming an electoral system that has been reduced to a complete farce through ever escalating vote-buying, abuse of power and massive rigging.

With such noble intention, how could Bersih be branded as anything other than a respectable body that works towards restoration of democracy and return of political power to the people? It should be obvious by now that without free and fair election, political power is vested in a few incumbent leaders, not with the people.

And when such a respectable body calls for a rally to highlight its cause to the nation, how can such a rally be taboo, and everything connected with it be decreed illegal?

Up to now, the incumbent hegemon Umno and the police have not come up with an iota of credible evidence that the Bersih rally is anything but a peaceful and honourable gathering, called in accordance with the right endowed by the Constitution to every citizen. Regretably, the police have so far conducted themselves as a force serving Umno’s parochial political interests, in direct confrontation with the interests of the masses.

AUTHORITIES’ EXCUSES INCREDULOUS

The excuses given so far to justify arrest and to label the rally illegal are laughable and carry no credibility – accusations such as a communist plot to wage war against the Agong, a movement aided by foreign Christian bodies to subvert the country, an event that will jeopardize public order and national security, and cause economic damage.

These tales of impending threats and calamities are so far-fetched that they are not only disbelieved by decent Malaysians, but also reflect the paucity of rationale of the incumbent power to justify their condemnation and clampdown on the movement.

That their excuses to crucify the Bersih rally are rubbish is amply manifested in the admirable political and economic well being of those democratic countries where such peaceful rallies are part and parcel of their democratic way of life. Look at our regional neighbor Hong Kong. Rallies of a few hundred thousand people to demonstrate against the Hong Kong or Chinese government are routinely staged there, and yet there was not the slightest indication that public order was affected or businesses harmed. On the contrary, Hong Kong continues to enjoy ever increasing prosperity and stability.

So, what is Umno afraid of?

The honest truth and the bottom line is: Umno has no confidence to politically survive a free and fair election.

That is why it has not yielded an inch in the direction of moving Malaysian election to a more level-playing field, and it has no intention to do so in the future.

Umno also realizes that it has committed too many wrongs that betray the people’s interest, and more people have come to know of these through the fast growing alternative media. Combined with the growing influence of opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat, the coming rally could be a powerful demonstration of the people’s will to reclaim sovereignty from the long-reigning kleptocracy through electoral reforms.

That is something that Umno does not want to see happening.

NO WIN FOR UMNO

We can hence expect that Umno will continue to step up pressure against Bersih by manipulating compliant institutions such as police and judiciary, at the expense of the Constitution and law, to stifle the Bersih move.

But Umno is in a no-win situation. To be faithful to the Constitution which means that the peaceful rally must be allowed to proceed, Umno dreads to see a mammoth assembly that could be demoralizing to its dwindling supporters. On the hand, a brutal repression that breaks all laws may kindle public fury to an explosive state with unpredictable consequences. Even if it succeeds in suppressing the rally, it can only bring temporary relief to Umno, as the ugly scenes of unjustified cruelty and transgression of law and fundamental human rights will be mercilessly bared for all to see, thanks to modern IT technology, reminiscent of the Tahrir square uprising and the subsequent revolutionary fire that has spread across the entire Arab world. By that time, Umno and BN’s popular support may have so dwindled that even the status quo of skewed election and stooge institutions cannot save it from an electoral defeat.

I am confident that the majority of Malaysians has already reached such a level of political consciousness that the will of the people will prevail to make July 9 rally an important turning point in our struggle to reclaim democracy and sovereignty for the people.

Bersih internet campaign begins: A message to all Malaysians

Salam!

Today, Wednesday, 29th of June, from 2pm-6pm, is Bersih’s day of internet activism. Our goal is to exponentially increase visible support for Bersih online, as part of our movement for a free and fair electoral system, and for a better Malaysia for all Malaysians.

We call upon all Malaysians of all backgrounds, regardless of their affiliations, to join us in helping ensure that Malaysia’s citizens will always retain the right to choose their government in a clean, democratic manner.

We hope to use democratic tools on the internet to objectively demonstrate how many Malaysians stand united behind these goals. In the first stage of our campaign, our objectives are to:
1. Reach 50,000 PicBadge Users – http://www.picbadges.com/bersih-2/1743665/
2. Get 50,000 Facebook Likes on our Official Page – http://www.facebook.com/pages/BERSIH-20-OFFICIAL/213938935311531
3. Get 10,000 followers on Twitter – http://twitter.com/bersih2

Also change your profile picture to something yellow.

The only way we will achieve these goals is if as many Malaysians as possible spread the message through their social networks – Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and so on.

This marks the beginning of a web campaign that will last to the 9th of July and beyond, where every day from 2pm – 3pm, we will call on Malaysians to help spread the message.

On the 29th of June from 2pm to 6pm, the theme for Facebook and Twitter is to write about “Why #Bersih?” – why it’s needed, why we as individuals are choosing to walk, and why it will make Malaysia better for all Malaysians.

We call upon activists to encourage positively, avoid pressuring others, and not get drawn into unproductive arguments. Ultimately, what we need are numbers to support the cause.

Thank you all for your kind support – together we will change the country we love for the better.

Ambiga : Bersih akan diteruskan, keselamatan peserta diutamakan

(Selangor Kini) - Perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 tetap akan diteruskan pada 9 Julai dalam keadaan aman dan keselamatan pesertanya terjamin, kata Presiden gerakan itu Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Ambiga memberi jaminan itu setelah menemui Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Ismail Omar di Bukit Aman untuk memaklumkan persedianan yang dibuat oleh jawatankuasa penganjur bersabit perhimpunan aman itu.

Polis sebelum ini mengisthiarkan Bersih sebagai perhimpunan haram dan sudah menahan kira-kira 100 orang kerana memakai atau mengedar kemeja T dengan logo Bersih serta risalah perhimpunan aman itu.

Kerajaan Umno-Barisan Nasional(BN) mendakwa perhimpunan aman itu bertujuan mengguling kerajaan menerusi demostrasi jalanan, yang dinafikan oleh Ambiga dan Pakatan Rakyat.

Ambiga berkata pihaknya bersedia berjumpa dengan Polis untuk menetapkan laluan sesuai yang untuk digunakan oleh peserta Bersih yang tidak akan menggangu lalu lintas serta menjamin keselamatan mereka.

“Pihak kami mencadangkan untuk mendapatkan kebenaran polis tentunya satu lokasi berhimpun secara aman, laluan yang dicadangkan ialah Taman Jaya ke Kuala Lumpur,” kata beliau kepada pemberita.

Ambiga berkata Tan Sri ismail bagaimanapun tidak memberikan kata putus mengenai cadangan-cadangan penganjur Bersih. Satu lagi mesyuarat antara kedua-dua pihak bakal diadakan.

“Kami akan menyediakan 5000 sukarelawan pada hari itu, dan 100 doktor sukarela dan peguam yang akan sama-sama turut serta bagi menjamin keselamatan sekiranya berlaku apa-apa,” tambah beliau.

EC shoots down Bersih’s demands ahead of rally

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — The Election Commission (EC) has dismissed several key reform demands of election watchdog Bersih, days before the July 9 rally.

This is despite repeated calls by the commission for Bersih to call off the march and meet them to discuss Bersih’s demands.

Bersih is pushing for a free and fair election system, and has listed eight demands which includes the need for automatic registration, use of indelible ink when voting, and the need for a longer campaigning period.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad charged that implementing automatic voter registration contravened the “spirit of democracy”, and would involve amending Article 119 of the federal constitution which would be an “arduous” task.

“Those who designed the constitution, placed importance of freedom of choice whether or not to vote. We don’t practice mandatory voting in this country.

“Democracy also requires intelligent people. Automatic registration would enable even a mad man to cast his vote which will not contribute anything to the process,” he said today.

Wan Ahmad said that most eligible unregistered voters were “lazy”, and quoted a Universiti Teknologi Malaysia survey to support his claim.

“Most of those surveyed said they were either lazy or indifferent...So if these people are automatically registered they won’t take the election process seriously at all,” he added.

Wan Ahmad then argued against the use of indelible ink during voting, saying it was “regressive” as the only countries in the world that use it are less developed countries like Africa and Indonesia.

“Not everyone wants to have indelible ink on them. This will create problems on voting day. The constitution states that all registered voters must be given a voting slip, so if someone doesn’t want to, then we cannot stop them from voting,” he said.

Wan Ahmad also raised the possibilty of voters not wanting their fingers inked and questioned if they would then be barred from voting.

“Disqualifying them would go against their rights...I also heard that indelible ink can be easily obtained from Thailand. What if voters ink their fingers themselves before casting their vote? Can you imagine the chaos that will erupt when they are barred from voting?” said the EC deputy head.

UMNO High Court Judge denies Hindraf registration without hearing merits

46,780 other NGOs approved.Upholds UMNO ROS’s absolute powers & above the law attitude.

June 30, 2011

This Hindraf Makkal Shakti’s application to be registered as a legal NGO is just the latest of the scores of Public Interest Litigation cases that the UMNO High Courts and right up to the Federal Courts has struck out mostly without even hearing the merits of the case beginning with the Kampong Medan racial attacks case of Subramaniam v Suhakam (government of Malaysia way back in 2001.

The UMNO High Court Judge Abang Iskandar bin Abang Hashim decided that as the registration of Hindraf as an NGO therefore this application to the High Court is frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the process of the courts and this Hindraf civil suit dismissed with costs of RM 3,000 payable to One Malay-sia Prime Minister Najib Razak, Home Minister and the Registrar of Societies of K.L and Putrajaya .

P. Uthayakumar had earlier on 21/6/2011 submitted that if the High Court dismisses this Hindraf civil suit it would give legitimacy to the UMNO Registrar of Societies to remain in the above the law mindset ie they are not duty bound to even reply to any letter or Hindraf’s application. This would also give legitimacy to the UMNO Registrar of Societies not being answerable to the general public in their discharge of their public duties. What more giving legitimacy to the impression of the absolute powers of the Registrar of Societies.

It was within our contemplation that this UMNO High Court Judge Abang Iskandar bin Abang Hashim would under the Prime Minister Najib Razak’s orders dismiss this our application as he had done in the 2007 Hindraf Rally era when he ‘fixed up” three Hindraf lawyers including P. Uthayakumer & P. Waythamoorthy to stand trial for sedition at Klang Courts .

Hindraf would file an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Irrespective of this High Court decision Hindraf would defy this High Court order or UMNO and would continue to operate as usual.

Conclusion

This is the UMNO brand of law and order in One malay-sia. When Hindraf applies to be registered as a legal NGO, the UMNO Registrar of Societies refuse to even reply let alone approving Hindraf as an NGO.

And when we continue operating as a pro tem NGO as per our Constitutional Right to form Associations as per Article 10 (1) (c) of the Federal Constitution, 54 Hindraf has thus for been prosecuted for being a member of Hindraf, an unlawful NGO.

And now when we come to the Malay-sian Courts this rejection of even leave to register Hindraf as and NGO is made. So what do we do? Become an underground movement?

All of this only shows one thing. The neo colonialist UMNO regime is simply frightened of the magical Hindraf and HRP. Otherwise why approve 46,780 other NGOs’ and 31 political parties with no problems and single out Hindraf and HRP for rejection.

Irrespective our struggle for the Indian poor continues.

Rights not Mercy.

Idiotic Malaysian Home minister ‘cooking up’ laws

Lim Kit Siang also diagnoses the BN government of suffering from Xantophobia, an irrational fear of the colour of yellow.

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition MPs today criticised Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein for acting outside the law in banning the yellow Bersih 2.0 T-shirts and questioned the legal basis for the Bersih-related clampdown.”We have a minister who is making the law on the run without parliamentary sanction,” said DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, adding that even Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar’s warning that any paraphernalia related to Bersih as illegal was deplorable.

During a press conference in Parliament, the Ipoh Timur MP said that such interpretation of the law coming from the home minister who had a legal background was disappointing.

He added that the opposition MPs, who had elements of yellow in their attire, were protesting the clampdown by the authorities and to show support for a peaceful Bersih demonstration on July 9.

Lim also declared that the government was suffering from Xanthophobia, the irrational fear of the colour yellow.

“We are only waiting for the IGP to announce that the colour yellow is illegal,” he said, drawing laughter from those present.

Karpal warns of legal action

DAP chairman Karpal Singh said the police and authorities would have to answer for their actions of intimidation in court.

“The police must be able to answer for whatever they are doing in court. There is no doubt in my mind that whatever they are doing is not supported by law,” he said.

“We intend to take action in court. This should be a warning to authorities concerned to cease and decease (their intimidating) actions,” said the Bukit Gelugor MP.

He singled out the case of the 14 people who were arrested yesterday in Sungai Siput, including DAP-Jalong assemblywoman Leong Mee Meng and PKR-Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang.

A Chinese daily reported that eight of them were made to take off the Bersih T-shirt they were wearing.

Karpal, a renowned lawyer, warned that the police cannot go scott-free after causing such humiliation.

PKR leader R Sivarasa said that only certain clothing could be declared illegal, that too after undergoing a process of being gazetted as illegal.

“In this case, we all know that it was not gazetted. Hishammuddin is making decisions outside the law,” said the Subang MP and lawyer.

Yellow fever in Parliament

Meanwhile, Pakatan MPs showed up in Parliament wearing yellow to pledge their support for Bersih.

Male MPs were spotted with specially ordered yellow ties with the words “Bersih 2.0″ printed at the bottom while their female counterparts came in all-yellow outfits.

Two MPs – Mohamed Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS- Bukit Gantang) and Er Teck Hwa (DAP- Bakri) – were seen wearing the Bersih T-shirt which had been outlawed by the Home Ministry.

Hishamuddin yesterday declared that the yellow Bersih T-shirt was illegal as it was associated with illegal activities.

Bersih chairperson said she will co-operate with the police to make the rally peaceful, even to the extent of allowing them to choose the rally routes

PETALING JAYA: Bersih is bending backwards to get the police to allow the July 9 rally. Its chairperson S Ambiga said that they are even willing to let the police decide on the routes for the rally.

“I told the IGP that we are willing to accept routes that the police outline for us… from KL to PJ.

“And then about 20 of us would go to the Istana Negara to hand over our memorandum,” Ambiga told FMT today.

She also asked the police to protect Bersih rally participants because Malaysia would lose credibility if the police failed to do so,

“I have reminded them that Malaysia sits in United Nations Human Rights Commission hence the need for them to protect rally participants. Malaysia would lose credibility if the police don’t provide security,”she said.

Malaysia was re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council on June 19, 2008. It will serve a three- year term which ends in 2013.

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Election otherwise known as Bersih 2.0 would be marching on July 9 from various locations in Kuala Lumpur to Istana Negara to handover their memorandum calling for electoral reforms.

Second meeting next week

Bersih’s current assembly points include the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur building near Dataran Merdeka, Sogo shopping complex and Kampung Baru Mosque before they all converge and head to Istana Negara.

“Our discussion focussed on the basic rights (to) freedom of assembly. What is the meaning of this right if every time someone wants to have an assembly like this, police immediately say no,” she said on the discussion she had with Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ismail Omar in Bukit Aman today.

Ambiga added that while Ismail did not give his green light to the suggestion, she would be meeting the police chief again next week to get the police force’s opinion on Bersih’s suggestion.

During the meeting with the IGP which Ambiga described as cordial, she said that the police chief had voiced out security concerns that may take place during the assembly.

“I have assured him that it would be peaceful,” said Ambiga who received death threats via SMS last week.

Apart from Bersih, Umno Youth led coalition called Patriot and Perkasa backed Gerak Aman would also be walking to voice their concerns against Bersih.

News portals may face more online attacks

Patrick Lee | June 30, 2011

As it gets closer to the Bersih rally, alternative news portals and activist blogs will face increasing cyber-attacks, say media watchers

KUALA LUMPUR: Online attacks against alternative news portals and activist blogs will intensify, as the clock ticks down to the July 9 Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) rally.

Centre for Independent Journalism programme director Chuah Siew Eng said that these cyber-attacks were a now a norm during politically challenging times.

“There will definitely be some Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. That seems to be the trend,” she said, attributing these attacks to “unknown persons”.

“They will target certain media that are outspoken. But they cannot shut down the whole Internet, that’s too drastic.”

Chuah used the recent Sarawak state election in April as an example. At the time, both whistleblower site Sarawak Report and online news portal Malaysiakini crashed due to incessant DDoS attacks.

However, she said that the government would not cut off the country’s Internet access like Egypt because it had too much to lose.

She said that such an action would backfire against the government, and attract more people to Bersih’s cause.

“If Facebook were to get shut down, if the government were to do that, the fence-sitters, or the ones not affected (by the protests)… it would make more of them involved,” she said.

In the early days of this year’s Egyptian revolution, former president Hosni Mubarak’s administration cut off the country’s Internet and cellular access in a bid to isolate opposition groups from each other.

However, the move did little to stave the anger Egyptians had against Mubarak. Some experts claimed that the cutoff actually backfired against the government.

MCMC warnings

Like Chuah, Media Defence South East Asia (MDSEA) executive director HR Dipendra did not think the government would cut off Internet access.

“A total Internet shutdown didn’t really work in Egypt. (For Malaysia), they can either shut down everything, or not shut it down at all,” he said.

In the mean time, Dipendra said that local alternative news sites may get warnings from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

“You may get calls and notices from the MCMC. They will probably try to tell you not to make things worse, or quote national security reasons.”

“But they would be hard-pressed to come up with any legal justifications,” he said.

He added that the authorities may resort to a physical closing of alternative news sites, if violence erupted on the day of the rally itself.

“You may even be physically shut down, and although you can operate remotely, there’ll be a lot of inconvenience,” he said.

He added that in such an event, the government may even take social media sites such as Facebook off the radar, adding: “Only if it’s absolutely necessary.”

However, former National Union of Journalists chief Hata Wahari, was not so optimistic.

Many things will happen

Hata said that the mass arrests and heavy-handed police action set a precedent for future government action.

“I think everything is possible now. If you wear Bersih T-shirts, you’ll get caught… do you think they will allow you to update your website?” he told FMT.

He said that the government was taking more drastic measures than it did when it faced the first Bersih protests in 2007.

“If you look in Bersih 1.0, there was very minimal block-out. But now I see a lot of precedents. They use (Section) 122 (of the Penal Code), Sedition Act, raids without warrants.”

“I think many more things will happen in the next week,” he said.

DPM Muhyiddin Yassin, How Stupid Can You Be?

Read here for more
Muhyiddin Yassin’s IDIOCY!by Marian Mokhtar


Of all the comments about Bersih, none are more despicable than those of Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who claimed that our reputation would be tarnished because the proposed Bersih march was politically motivated and threatened national security.

Surely not!

Bersih does not pose any threat to national security but is a threat to Muhyiddin, Umno and its cronies.

If the rakyat goes ahead with electoral reform and democracy is restored in Malaysia, then these people in Umno, and those who are closely associated with Umno, will lose everything. Some will lose their freedom.

Did Muhyiddin ever consider why he and his colleagues in Umno/BN allowed democracy to be destroyed in Malaysia, in the first instance?

Did he think that after 54 years, the rakyat would sit around and watch their country disintegrate?

It is all very well to call the Bersih rally illega, l but what about the illegal machinations with which Umno/BN has conducted itself and the way it bulldozes the rakyat’s concerns.

There are several reasons why Malaysia’s reputation is tarnished and none involve Bersih.

Many of the reasons have racial and religious undertones.

• We have seen the cow-head incident and the Interlok book, test our Hindu brethren. We then saw our Christian brothers being subject to vilification by the ban of the word Allah, the removal of religious symbols in the presence of senior Cabinet ministers and how a child was whipped for eating pork sausages at school.
  
  
• Sections of the community were also accused of planning to topple the government to pave the way for a Christian prime minister.
  
  
• However, when Malay and Muslim extremists disturbed the peace and called for a jihad, they were just given a rap on the knuckles.
  
  
• When the prolonged bombardment of sex, videos and lies did not achieve the desired effect on the rakyat, ministers then decided that we were communists intent on sabotaging the nation. Even wearing Che Guevera t-shirts became a crime.
  
  
• Now people are being arrested for wearing or selling yellow T-shirts.A few years ago, people were arrested for wearing black T-shirts, for distributing birthday cakes and for assembling under a raintree – Perak’s Tree of Democracy.
  
  
• Now that Bersih is attempting to restore true democracy to the land, Muhyiddin’s suggestion that Ambiga Sreenevasan is a national threat is laughable.
  
  
• Would he consider former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed who refuses to relinquish power and who has his hand up Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s back and manipulates him like a glove puppet, a threat?
  
  
• What about Mahathir’s agent provocateur, Ibrahim Ali, the president of the NGO Perkasa who despite his seditious talk, manages to elude arrest?
  
  
• It is said that Ibrahim Ali will be charged with sedition but we know that this is merely a last ditch attempt to appease us. The authorities realise that Bersih will continue with its march and the rakyat is determined to call for free, fair and clean elections.
  
  
• The Election Commission (EC) is as much to blame for the decline in Malaysia’s state of affairs as the government.If only the EC did not have a puppet who is in Najib’s pocket, as its leader, and if only it did half its duties, then Malaysia might not have fallen into the abyss.
  
  
• Muhyiddin has the brass cheek to suggest the EC is not aware of our protestations of vote-rigging, of abuse of postal voting and the shambolic way the ruling party intimidates or ‘coerces’ people into voting for them.All our complaints were brushed aside.
  
  
• Muhyiddin who attracted scorn when he declared he was ‘a Malay first and Malaysian second’ does send out mixed messages and perhaps, is not aware of what he is saying:

1. As the Education Minister, Muhyiddin changed the language in which Science and Mathematics were taught in all our schools.
   
   
2. In international forums, our poor grasp of the English language is evident.To arrest the decline in English, Muhyiddin arranged for English speaking teachers from around the world, including the Peace Corps, to come to Malaysia to teach English.
   
   
3. Are there sufficient numbers to reach out to all schools? Are these people going to turn our education system around?
   
   
4. Why did he choose to ignore the untapped talent of thousands of the older teachers who were schooled in the old ways and who speak good English.
   
   
5. Why enlist foreigners at the expense of these able teachers? Is it because the majority of the English speaking Malaysian teachers are non-Malays?

• Muhyiddin said that because of Bersih, tourists will stop visiting, investors will sidestep us and that our ‘image globally as a peaceful and developed country’ will be tarnished.How shortsighted is he?
  

Muhyiddin’s policies just prove that Umno has no political will to change or to accept reform.

If Bersih achieves its aims then there will be renewed business opportunities, more growth, increased investment in the nation and less theft of the rakyat’s money.

Corruption, abuse of power, nepotism and cronyism will be brought to manageable levels. Hopefully, our institutions like the EC amongst others, will regain their integrity.

The first Bersih rally in 2007, when 50,000 took to the streets in a peaceful march, was marred when the police used heavy handed tactics and turned chemical laced water from water cannons onto the crowds and also attacked them with tear gas and baton charges.

Bersih is not a threat to national security but is a real threat to Umno/BN. Umno/BN is the real threat to national security

Please join the rally on 9 July and exercise your democratic right to free, clean and fair elections.

The police are going to be sent to the rally. This time, they should join the march, instead of turning against it.They should do this to regain their reputation which Mahathir trashed and most importantly, for their own families and their childrens’ futures.

The Egyptian army did it and so can the Malaysian police.

IAEA panel gives green light to Lynas plant

It's almost all systems go for Lynas Corporation's massive rare earth plant project in Kuantan, with the international review panel giving the Australian-based mining company the green light.

The panel has found the RM700 million project in Gebeng, 25km from the Pahang state capital, to have complied with international radiation standards.

"The review team was not able to identify any non-compliance with international radiation safety standards," says a summary of findings and recommendations made by the panel.

The nine-member international review panel was mootedby the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) and set up by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) two months ago to carry out a conclusive study on the safety of the Lynas Advance Material Plant in Gebeng.

The panel was headed by Tero Varjoranta, a director in the United Nation's IAEA.

However, the review team made an 11-point "necessary recommendations" to the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) for monitoring the plant before the start of operations, seven of which are technical recommendations.

Out of the 11 recommendations, five are to be done by the AELB.

The recommendations include the need for Lynas to submit its long-term plans for waste management to the AELB, as well as its plans for managing the wastes upon decommissioning and dismantling the plant.

The panel also recommended that the AELB should enhance the understanding, transparency and visibility of its regulatory actions in the eyes of the public and to further engage with the stakeholders.

The panel was in Malaysia for six days in May, during which its members made site visits as well as held consultations with Lynas, the government, NGOs and political parties.

Most notably,angry demonstrationshad accompanied the IAEA panel when they were in Kuantan for the consultation session, spooking an anti-Lynas NGO, 'Save Malaysia', from attending the session. It was revealed that the NGO also did not hand over a written submission to the expert panel.

However, the government has given its assurance that Lynas has still not been given the golden ticket to proceed with its plans, which include a September deadline for operations to commence.

"The recommendations are there and all requirements will have to be met with before any action is taken," Miti secretary-general Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria told a press conference at the ministry in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

"It is only when they have met all requirements will they get their trial run licence. We intend to follow the recommendations to the tee," Sta Maria (right) said.

With Lynas intending to stick to its time-line, Sta Maria said the plant may not even get the pre-operating licence if it was found not to have complied with the regulations.

In the five-phase licensing process, the plant has already got the site and construction licences. The other phases include the pre-operating, operating and decommissioning licences.

The Gebeng plant is now 40 percent complete, according to Sta Maria.

She also clarified her minister's remarks on the suspension of consideration for the pre-operating licence, saying that construction of the plant could still be carried out under the construction licence.

However, she refused to comment on a New York Times report today that quoted sources and internal memos claiming that the plant was riddled with design flaws and was an environmentally hazardous construction.

"Lynas is having its press conference at 3pm today. They will be the ones to address the issue," she said.

Lynas 'indicated' how waste management will be done

Also at the press conference, the AELB director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan said Lynas has 'indicated' to the government how the waste management will be done, but offered no details, citing confidentiality of 'intellectual property'.

But he gave AELB's assurance that Lynas has sent a preliminary Radioactive Impact Assessment report, which he called a “living document”.

"On the radiological safety point of view, AELB will be on site 24/7, at least during and before the pre-operating. If there are any indication of leakages or non-compliance or failure, then we will be able to stop it immediately...

"We will take remedial mitigation procedures so that there are no failures. It is also in (Lynas') interest that their plant is well-constructed.

"As far as regulation is concerned, if the plant is built shoddily, it will affect operations later. So it is in the interest of the operator that the plant is built in highest standards possible. If not, the investment won't work," Raja Abdul Aziz (right) said.

Sta Maria added that one percent of the plant's gross sales will go to research and development, and half of that amount should go to a decommissioning fund.

The plant is supposed to process rare earth concentrate shipped in from the Lynas Corporation's Mount Weld site in Australia.

Though rare earth itself is not radioactive, it is commonly mixed with thorium, which is radioactive.

Rare earth is also crucial to modern-day electronic devices, such as smart phones, electric cars and wind turbines, something that the government has labelled as the first step towards green technology.

Fuziah maintains Lynas is hazardous

Meanwhile, Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, from PKR, said she somewhat expected the decision by the IAEA, but maintains that the Lynas plant is hazardous.

She said the fact the New York Times had highlighted the non-safety of the plant despite the report showed that Lynas cannot be trusted.

She said that the non-safety as reported in the NYT showed that Malaysian administrators are not capable of monitoring the plant carefully as it may be built without the correct specifications.

“Lynas has a smaller facility in Mount Weld where it has a buffer zone of around 30km radius. There are no people living within a 30km radius of Mount Weld, Australia which enforces this strict requirement.

“With this Lynas facility, the nearest residential area is just 3km away and it may affect Indera Mahkota, Kuantan and Kemaman residents,” she pointed out.

The dangers are there, Fuziah said, and she herself had hired her own consultants to scrutinise the facility and make its findings.

“My consultants said it is dangerous and I will reveal their report in due time after the release of the IAEA report,” she said. - Malaysiakini

Holy cow, can you believe the home minister?

'Hishammuddin has perfected the art of lying whilst in a stupor. What is happening certainly does not reflect what he says.'

'Yes, yes, yes', cops will act against Umno Youth

DannyLoHH: I hear the words. But I did not see the action. Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali who issued threats of violence and bloodshed still walks free. Umno Youth's Lokman Noor Adam and Arman Azha Abu Hanifah who had openly threatened to burn down PKR HQ office still walk free.

There is still yet any action taken to the perpetrator that sent SMS death threat to S Ambiga and the Bersih steering committee members. The names mentioned and person indicated here have all committed criminal offences, but the police allowed them to roam free on the street.

Yet people wearing Bersih T-shirt are being detained and arrested with dubious charges like waging war against the Agong, Printing Presses and Publications Act and Sedition Act.

Is the police telling the public that demanding free and fair elections is seditious, while issuing threat of violence, bloodshed and arson is not?

Anonymous: Umno had marched to PKR headquarters and threatened to burn it. It is clear now, who is a threat to peace and the nation. What will the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and his police do to stop and prevent this menace from these gangsters?

Fairnessforall: So why haven't they been arrested yet. In fact they should have been arrested at the time of the demonstration. Hishammuddin, who are you trying to fool?

Louis: "I've already told (the police) to treat Pemuda (Umno Youth) the same. Nobody is above the law," said Hishammuddin.

Did you tell the police to do the same to Ibrahim Ali? By the same statements, it shows that all these while, the police have been receiving orders from Hishammuddin as who should be arrested and who should be given a peck on the cheek.

Alan Goh: Hussein Onn was a great and honest Umno leader who dares to charge former Selangor menteri besar and Umno Youth head Idris Harun for corruption.

For his courageous action, Hussein was challenged for the Umno president post, a plot by unscrupulous politicians, forcing him to take early retirement.

If only his son, Hishammuddin, has his father's qualities and courage to speak up of the massive corruption and abuse of power in Umno. Hishammuddin, no more 'yes, yes, yes' that the cops will act against Umno Youth. Just do it, like what your dad would have done.

Lim Chong Leong: How come this home minister sometimes says he cannot tell the police what to do when it comes to police's brutal action against candlelight vigils, Bersih and Pakatan Rakyat leaders, and now says he will tell the police to treat Umno Youth the same?

He is lying, isn't he?

Saya Dah Sedar: My goodness, Hishammuddin has perfected the art of lying whilst in a stupor. What is happening certainly does not reflect what he says.

Ibrahim Ali certainly is above the law. So is that trash newspaper,Utusan Malaysia. Even the staff in Utusan are apologetic when others know they are working there. Shame on you, Hishammuddin. What have you been smoking?

Hamisu: If the police need to be told by Hishammuddin that no one is above the law, can I deduce the police do not know how to do their job? That's insulting. And I am even more appalled to see how my tax money is being used to fund PDRM. Well, Hishammuddin really knows how to make PDRM look extremely incompetent.

YF: It's been more than 48 hours and still no action compared to the immediate action on non-Umno members. And the Umno folks were violent in nature with the police doing nothing. So why the double standards? Nobody wants a consistent liar for a minister.

Lbl: When the opposition holds a gathering, they are stopped before they can hold it. Umno Youths are allowed to hold the gathering. It is quite obvious they know they can get away with it.

Kee Thuan Chye: Will he really take real action against Umno Youth? We'll believe it when we see it.

CPO tells public to stay away from KL on July 9

Lonestar: The police are very good at reading the rakyat's thoughts. Even before an application for a rally is made, they are fully aware that it will lead to chaos and what better then to nip it in the bud before chaos takes place.

Just declare that a permit will never be provided and automatically the rally which has yet to occur becomes an illegal rally. So simple and so effective, as after having decided that the rally is illegal, the next step the police can take is to effectively round up all those Bersih people and their paraphernalia.

Some say the constitution allows for free assembly of the rakyat. But then again, who knows the constitution best if not the home minister and his police force. So if the police chief says the rally which has yet to take place is illegal, who is the rakyat to say otherwise.

Karma: How to stay away from KL when we stay in KL? Further, we also work in KL. CPO, Can I get your signature for this advice and show my boss so I can get a paid leave?

By the way, can I tell all my tourist friends also to stay away from KL and don't wear yellow shirt which says Bersih? What if they already booked a hotel in KL? Should they all move to PJ Hilton?

Anonymous_417c: Malaysia is getting into world headlines for all the wrong reasons. BN is scraping the bottom of the barrel to label the pro-rally rakyat as communists, spies and law-breakers. If only common sense can rule, it would be a very enjoyable July 9.

Docs: Just to let you know, KL acting police chief Amar Singh, I work, live, eat and shit in KL. Where the hell am I to go on July 9 then?

Tuah PJ: My parents live in Ipoh Road and I take the bus through Jalan Raja Laut/Bandaraya to go to their home every Sunday. My children come back every weekend from out of town. Are you telling me that I can't visit my aging parents on July 9 and my children can't see me on that day?

Swipenter: The police have no right to 'advise' us to stay away from KL on July 9. We have still have the freedom of movement, don't we? We still can 'walk around' together, with or without yellow shirts.

Pure Malaysian: Hooray! My boss cannot scold me for not coming to work on that Saturday. - Malaysiakini

'Minority Report' now playing in Malaysia

'For an assembly to be illegal, you must have actually held the assembly. Where does it say in the law that expressing support for a future 'illegal' act is illegal?'

Hisham declares Bersih T-shirt illegal

Anonymous_4196: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, why is wearing a T-shirt that represents the rakyat's struggle for free and fair elections illegal?

How about just wearing a yellow T-shirt without any print? How about yellow trousers? How about wearing the yellow Digi teletubby mascot outfit? What if the polis 'suka-suka' (on a whim) arrest me for having something yellow on?

Solaris: Communists in Malaya/Malaysia were referred to as 'reds'. If it's illegal to wear certain coloured clothes related to an alleged illegal activity, why is it that Umno members are allowed to wear red T-shirts and behave like terrorists outside the PKR headquarters on Monday night?

Dood: I hope the police have enough place in their lock-ups to detain tens of thousands of people come July 9.

Malaysian for Malaysia: In the movie 'Minority Report', someone is already judged as guilty before he commits a crime. Remember how it ended?

Until the crime is actually committed, it is not illegal. For a so-called assembly to be illegal, you must have actually held the assembly. Where does it say in the law that expressing support for a future 'illegal' act is illegal too?

If I say I support the recent break-in at CIMB bank, am I doing something illegal? Or am I just exercising my right to say whatever the hell I want?

Lulu: This seems to be a new law. When was it passed in Parliament?

Josephine: If Bersih T-shirts are banned, what about T-shirts with naughty messages, or words with profanity? It is scary to think that our home minister, who comes with a pedigree of two former Umno presidents, will very possibly be our future prime minister if Umno still rules.

To cut short the agony, perhaps really, instead of marching on the streets, Bersih should just despatch groups of 100 members (or more) clad in their Bersih tees and offer themselves to all the police stations of the country. That would also make a statement.

Anonymous: We cannot wear yellow, we cannot wear black, we cannot wear red... Can BN and Umno tell us what colours are allowed? Birthday suit, okay?

Kingfisher: Ordinary citizens will find it very hard to understand what appears to be a pathological disapproval, or even fear, by the government to the clearly defined objectives of Bersih to conduct a peaceful rally for promoting/protecting fair and equitable electoral processes in our nation's democratic elections.

The heightened sense of warning and threats against the rally supporters and the detentions and questioning of legitimate organisers of the rally will not go down well with the silent majority of the people who are the electorate.

Many will be left wandering as to why PM Najib Razak, who lately has made policy commitments to establishing a fair, equitable and progressive society would stand on the sidelines and allow the instruments of law enforcement to prematurely deal with this issue.

It is not wise for any nation that seeks progress towards democratic maturity to engage the instruments of law and order indiscriminately for political purposes.

David Dass: The minister says that the Bersih T-shirt is an item of clothing related to an illegal activity. What is that illegal activity? Is the illegal activity the proposed illegal demonstration?

It cannot be illegal for a person to wear a yellow T-shirt at home. It cannot be illegal for someone to wear a yellow T-shirt with the acronym 'Bersih' emblazoned on the front and back at home. Or in the park. Or on a bus. So is there must be a moment in time when wearing that yellow Bersih T-shirt becomes illegal.

Wearing a T-shirt cannot be illegal because it is quite normal for people to wear T-shirts. There are Umno T-shirts. PAS T-shirts. Microsoft T-shirts. It is not as if a T-shirt is like a gun, the mere possession of which without a permit is illegal.

Anak Bangsa Malaysia: First it was black T-shirts, then it was candles, then it was pictures of Altantuya Shaariibuu, now it is yellow T-shirts.

The fascist Umno-BN regime is terrified but seeks to project its terror onto the people by threatening violence, aided and abetted by the uniformed henchmen that now represent Malaysia's most contemptible institution: the police force.

Hishammuddin will go down in history as a blubbering but cruel fool who declared war on articles of clothing in order to defend a corrupt and racist regime.

Ambiga and panel to meet IGP tomorrow

Swipenter: Inspector-general of police Ismail Omar, maybe you should act like your predecessor and carry out preventive measures, not unlike Ops Lalang, as recently asserted by Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he was PM.

You could save PM Najib and his cousin a lot of ridicule by taking such burden off their shoulders by declaring you are responsible for such drastic measures to prevent "chaos and anarchy" from happening in the country because of Bersih 2.0. Then you could be assured of your top cop post for many, many more years to come.

DannyLoHH: The police has gone overboard, arresting people for wearing T-shirts. Now, under what law that they arrest people donning garments that is in support of Bersih? There is no such law that states it is illegal to wear a T-shirt bearing the Bersih logo.

Are the police upholding the law or are they becoming a law unto themselves? Or is the home minister now God that a decree by him is a divine law that cannot be broken?

Please tell, which part of Bersih is illegal? Is it because it is demanding for a free and fair elections? Is it the part where it asks for the strengthening public institution? Or is it the part where it asks for no more dirty politics?

The excuse given to outlaw the Bersih rally is not based on what Bersih stand for. As for the fear of chaos and public disorder, Bersih had pledged a peaceful rally and is willing to engage the police to make sure of that.

On the contrary, police is the one acting defensive and now, arresting people without any legal basis.

Quigonbond: Everything the IGP says reminds me of the wisdom in the book - 'How to Win an Argument'. What the IGP says are falsehoods and pure conjectures. He premises his argument that people are angry, and from there leads to a slippery slope of violence, public disorder and disruption of national security.

But all of Malaysia is entitled to ask - who exactly is angry? Are all 28 million Malaysians angry, or just Umnoputras, Perkasa and the editors of Utusan Malaysia? Assuming that there are two million of them, then what about the other 26 million who are pissed that BN abuses the system?

The IGP couldn't even come clean with what foreign elements the police has identified in their intelligence report, knowing full well that the BN government is already losing the war for public opinion badly.

OMG: The only foreign elements here are those elements foreign to BN - honesty, transparency, credibility and justice. - Malaysiakini

Why no raids on Perkasa and Umno Youth?

'Umno and Perkasa are showing unruly behaviour with their threats of violence, bloodshed, and arson. Yet the office that got raided is Bersih's.'

Bersih HQ raided, 7 staff arrested

SMC77: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and PM Najib Razak must take note. It is PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) and BN which are inciting fear and chaos at this upcoming gathering. If there is any crime committed by any party, it can only be PDRM and BN.

If the BN and PDRM refuse to let the rakyat to voice out their concern and anger, they are forcing the rakyat to turn the peaceful gathering into a violent protest that could lead to the same outcome as we have seen in Egypt and other parts of the Muslim world in recent months.

Kee Thuan Chye: Why raid only the Bersih secretariat? Why not raid those of Perkasa and Umno Youth as well since they will also be holding rallies?

My fellow Malaysians, please take note of this practice of double standards and relate it to everyone you know so they may know the true situation in this country.

Joe Lee: This is becoming ridiculous. Umno is shitting in its own pants and is resorting to terrorising Malaysian citizens. It is seeing its own demise in the mirror, and like a dying man who doesn't want to go, it is lashing out at everything.

These terrorist acts will be remembered by the people of Malaysia, and when it is judgement time, Malaysia will decide their fate.

Anonymous_3e86: So far the rally has not materialised yet. How can they arrest anyone under Section 27(5) when there hasn't been any rally?

Yellow T-shirts, orange T-shirts, cream T-shirts - all have been confiscated. So what colours are allowed? What about yellow underwear? Is it illegal too?

It appears the police under the instructions of BN has created more chaos and fear than the Bersih organisers. I'm sure it is BN's intention to create chaos in order to implement emergency rule. They are that desperate...

I will be wearing something yellow on July 9.

Chipmunk: These were not cops but thugs. Their behaviour is very unbecoming. They are an insult and disgrace to the king. They should remove the term 'Di Raja' from PDRM and instead use PDUM (Polis Di Umno Malaysia).

Let's see how many more arrest they are going to do? The more they oppress the rakyat, the more the rakyat will retaliate. Shame on these police.

DannyLoHH: It's funny to see how the police work in Malaysia. Time and again, Bersih had reiterated that their rally will be a peaceful rally. And time and again, Umno and Perkasa are showing unruly behaviour with their threats of violence, bloodshed and arson. Yet the office that got raided is Bersih's.

Lakia: This lawless action should drive our determination to fight on much harder for democracy, justice and freedom for our beloved country and all its people. All of us now go back to our respective kampong in the rural areas and explain to all the voters there why we need to kick out the BN in the 13th general elections.

There is absolutely no basis to oppose the Bersih peaceful rally. Only those who want to cheat are afraid of a clean, fair and transparent electoral system.

Anonymous: Are we a police state or under emergency? Why can't we have a peaceful democratic rally? Without provocation from Perkasa and Umno Youth, it would be a peaceful rally.

The police should instead threaten Perkasa and Umno Youth and prevent them from rallying on same day. They can do it another day. The troublemakers and threat to peace are these provocateurs and they should be prevented from disturbing the peace.

Swipenter: PDRM, how about raiding the secretariats of Perkasa and Umno Youth since they have declared openly to march "illegally" on July 9 and they too don't have a police permit nor blessings from Hishammuddin.

Malaysian Down Under: With all these arrests, the gatherings in Australia might actually be bigger than the one in KL. So, to the Malaysian diaspora in Australia, let's unite in a single voice.

To the corrupt authorities in Malaysia - you can fool some of the people all the time, all of the people some time, but you will never fool all of the people all of the time. Bersih 2.0 aims to drive home that point, and witnessed, I hope, by the world.

AnakBangsaMalaysia: In the past few days, it has been the Home Ministry and the police who have been committing a long list of crimes against the Malaysian people: slander, false arrest, assault and abuse of the PSM detainees, criminal intimidation and harassment of Bersih 2.0 organisers and members of the public, criminal negligence and dereliction of duty by standing by idly while the Umno Youth mob uttered explicit threats of arson and violence against the PKR HQ in Tropicana.

Anonymous_4135: No matter what you do, how you raid, how many people you arrest, doesn't even matter if the Agong doesn't show up to meet us on July 9, you can continue to provoke us, regardless of how you want to intimidate us rakyat, you will never be able to blot out the spirit of Bersih 2.0.

You can use water canons to stop us gathering, but the one most important thing the government cannot do is change our heart.

Anonymous_5fb: Enough said. With 'dirty' election, we need to vote 'overwhelmingly' so to neutralise the 'dirty' election processes this 13th GE for Pakatan Rakyat to take over Putrajaya.

Mohd: How can we call this is a democratic country when the 14th component of the ruling party is the police force? - Malaysiakini