Although denied a permit by the police, the Bersih 2.0 rally is ON. Top Pakatan Rakyat leaders including Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, PAS president Hadi Awang and DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang are expected to personally attend and lend their support to the marchers.
"Pakatan Rakyat leaders will attend,” Anwar had said on Twitter.
A restriction order had been placed on key Pakatan leaders to prevent their presence so as to discourage the crowd. But many legal experts are of the view the order is without basis and contravenes the constitution.
It is hard to tell how many will attend tomorrow's rally given the aggressive police scare-mongering and intimidation, but most pundits expect the number to exceed the 2007 rally size of more than 50,000.
Apart from Pakatan, a coalition of 50 Indian NGOs has pledged to mobilise 30,000 supporters for the Bersih rally, also named A Walk for Democracy.
Known as the Angkata Warga Aman Malaysia or Warga Aman, the coalition is made up of grassroots NGOs such as Persekutuan Pertubuhan India Malaysia (Prima), Malaysian Indian Voice (MIV), Persatuan Kemajuan Pelajar Tamil Malaysia and Majlis Kemajuan Belia Bell Tamil.
"We advise the police to stop all harassment and arrest of people who support Bersih 2.0," Warga Aman spokesman Gobi Krishnan said in a statement.
The group said it would gather in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, before marching to Stadium Merdeka.
Bad faith
They have also made an immediate appeal against the harsh decision but it was also rejected.
"GREAT NEWS! Dang Wangi police station called Bersih, asked them to pick up permit for rally in Stadium MERDEKA! Now falls to PM & Stadium Management to make appropriate arrangements," Bersih had said on its Twitter site and also its official Facebook page.
But it transpired that the organisers had either misunderstood the situation or were being 'played the fool with' by the police, who have been criticised for their unscrupulous behaviour over the rally. Instead of the permit Bersih had expected, they were given a letter of rejection.
This is not the first time that the Bersih committee has found itself being treated unprofessionally by groups including Prime Minister Razak, who seem to think nothing of abandoning the rules of the game mid-way.
In fact, many critics have suggested that throughout the BN's 5 decades of political hegemony, it is regarded to be a point of honour amongst many in the coalition, especially within lead party UMNO, that whomsoever "tricks, cheats and lies the best" is the most suited for high office.
A day ago, Bersih chief Ambiga Sreenevasan had led a small delegation and spent more than an hour with Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar, urging his help to secure the Stadium Merdeka premises for its free-and-fair elections rally on July 9. But even as Ismail spoke to Ambiga, his men were busily applying for a Restriction Order from the courts to ban her group from entering the city's central business district where the stadium is located.
Prime Minister Najib Razak set no better example when he publicly reneged on his word to Bersih, a coalition of 62 NGOs, refusing to uplift a ban on the movement, or allow them to use the historical Stadium Merdeka or to release Bersih activists still under remand.
Where to gather if appeal rejected
Nonetheless, the latest incident is unlikly to reduce Malaysians' support for the much-antipated rally. While Bersih's approach may have been naive, no one can say Ambiga and team have not tried their best to secure a noble cause for their countrymen.
Should their appeal fail and the stadium doors be locked tomorrow, Bersih supporters are expected to mill outside. Left without choice, the people are expected to gather at the Masjid Negara, Dataran Merdeka, Masjid Jamek and of course nearby Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, before moving over to the stadium grounds.
Bersih is strongly backed by the Pakatan Rakyat leaders, many of whom had organised the 2007 Bersih rally. While Pakatan fully supports Bersih, it has to keep its involvement at arms-length as it is now the main opposition coaltion in the country. It also does not want the rally to be tarred as being an opposition march by the BN. As such, all the Pakatan leaders who were in the Bersih committee stepped aside sometime in June, leaving Ambiga and her team of activists to directly negotiate in the last few rounds.
"We are back to square one, police still taking hardline stance, we have no choice to continue with our gathering and the march! That doesn't change. Bersih is now submitting the appeal letter to the police headquarters with complete Exco list. Let's see what game the authorities are playing," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
BN afraid but never mid, c u at StadMerdeka
According to Bersih, the latest appeal was to show that it genuinely wanted and tried its very best to co-operate with the authorities, who have deliberatly shut their door on the movement.
Although invited to take part in the non-partisan march, Najib and his BN leaders have refused, prompting speculation that they feared any cleanup of the existing electoral system could lead to a heavy loss.
The Pakatan had secured 47 per cent of the popular vote in the 2008 general election, but won only 5 out of 13 states due a combination of factors including heavy gerrymandering and rampant vote-buying.
"PM Najib should instruct police to grant permit in accordance with his assurance that Bersih can pick the stadium," PKR MP for Subang Sivaras Rasiah said on Twitter.
"Bersih asked to pick up permit at DangWangi. When there, police handed a rejection of permit letter. Nvrmind - c u at StadMerdeka!" Bukit Lanjan assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong said on Twitter.
- Malaysia Chronicle
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