Bersih to go ahead with Dataran rally

Tarani Palani | April 24, 2012

The government is giving confusing responses to the planned sit-in, says the electoral watchdog.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih 3.0 is going ahead with its sit-in rally at Dataran Merdeka despite calls from the authorities to change its venue.

The electoral watchdog co-chairman A Samad Said said today the rally would proceed as planned.

“We decided unanimously at an emergency meeting yesterday to go ahead with the sit-in protest at Dataran Merdeka,” he said.

“Bersih regrets that the government is repeating its strategy of offering different and confusing responses to the planned sit-in,” said the group’s co-chairperson, A Samad Said.

“These mixed signals are reminiscent of what occurred last year,” he said, adding that he was disappointed that the government could not speak clearly on the matter.

Conflicting responses

In July last year, Bersih’s request to utilise Stadium Merdeka was also rejected.

Samad, who is more widely known as Pak Samad, added that he was disappointed that the government could not speak in one clear voice.

He highlighted the difference of response from Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the police.

“The government appears to have given the go-ahead, while DBKL and the police are creating obstacles,” he said.

Hishammuddin has twice said the government would not hinder the protest because it did not consider it a threat to national security.

However, DBKL had rejected the group’s application to hold the rally at Dataran saying that the event was not a national level event.

Yesterday, city mayor, Ahmad Fuad Ismail said that the event cannot be held in Dataran because it contained “political and dissenting elements”.

The police too have rejected Bersih’s application citing “safety” concerns – in a one-line response to Bersih.

Dataran, it will be

S Ambiga, Bersih’s other co-chairperson, said that they were proceeding with good faith and will write again to both DBKL and the police to seek a meeting over the protest.

“There will be no changes anymore because we have four days to go and can’t leave the people confused,” she said adding that it was a unanimous decision by the coalition’s members.

She said that Bersih will continue to seek police cooperation as they are to facilitate peaceful gatherings in any country that has implemented the Peaceful Assembly Act.

It is understood that the Act formally came into force yesterday.

She said that Dataran would be the easiest venue for both Bersih and the authorities because of its access.

Bersih is sticking with Dataran because of three main reasons – the public square is accessible by various public transportation, its significance for freedom and nationhood and Bersih’s constitutional right to gather in any public space.

 

Bersih announced that there will be six meeting points before proceeding to Dataran this Saturday. The locations are Masjid Negara, Pasaran Seni, Jalan Sultan, Masjid Negara, Brickfields and Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC).

The electoral watchdog will deploy 6,000 security units on Saturday. There will be 100 doctors on standby along side ambulance and medical centers.

Ambiga reiterated today that Bersih was in a rush to hold the rally as the government seemed to be in a rush to hold the elections.

“A promise to delay the polls will not do, there needs to be a promise by the Najib administration that all polls reforms must take place before the upcoming polls,” she said.

Leading up to Bersih 2.0 rally last July, police issued a notice barring 91 leaders from entering certain points in the city merely two days before the scheduled rally.

On the day of the rally, most of the city was cordoned off. However, that did not prevent, tens of thousands from marching towards the Stadium Merdeka defiantly while police fired tear gas and fired water cannon to deter the crowd. Around 1,600 arrest were made on the day of the protest itself.