KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Umno should be confident of winning elections freely and fairly if the ruling Malay party subscribed to these principles, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim declared ahead of today’s Bersih rally. The opposition leader also said he would attend the electoral reforms gathering at Stadium Merdeka, despite a court order barring him and 90 others from Bersih 2.0, Umno Youth, Perkasa and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) from entering the city.
“We are just asking for clean elections, that’s all,” Anwar told a 400-strong crowd at a madrasah in Cheras last night.
Holding up Turkey as a model, the PKR de facto leader pointed out that the country had invited foreign representatives to observe its elections last month.
“We can’t even check our own electoral rolls... I can’t even get a single minute of an interview (on mainstream media),” said Anwar, who wore a yellow collared shirt.
“I’m going to Stadium Merdeka. How? Don’t ask,” he added with a smile, as the crowd laughed and clapped.
Police locked down the capital since midnight to head off the Bersih rally and Umno Youth’s counter-protest. Several highways leading into the city were congested as traffic was reduced to a single lane for police checks.
Cabinet ministers and the police have told Bersih to take its rally outside the federal capital despite the movement accepting on Tuesday the government’s offer to move its gathering to a stadium.
The first Bersih rally in 2007 saw up to 50,000 people take to the streets of Kuala Lumpur before they were dispersed by police armed with tear gas and water cannons.
The demonstration was partly credited for the opposition’s record gains in Election 2008, where the loose PR pact swept to power in five states and won 82 parliamentary seats.
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