The prime minister says the government will give permission as long as the gatherings are held at appropriate venues.
KUCHING:
The government does not prevent any parties, including from the
opposition, to hold gatherings so long as they are peaceful and held at
appropriate venues, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said.
He said he did not want any gatherings which could lead to tensions in the country.
“We tell them, if you want to gather, we give you the Bukit Jalil
Stadium, we are even willing to give Stadium Merdeka [as the location
for the gathering],” he said when when launching the “Promises
Fulfilled” roadshow at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Petra Jaya here today.
He was referring to the illegal gathering in the federal capital
today organised by various non-governmental organisations and opposition
parties purportedly to call for electoral reforms.
According to Najib, the organisers were barred from holding it at
Dataran Merdeka, their preferred venue, because of the square’s national
significance which made it unsuitable for holding demonstrations.
He said the opposition should not continue tarnishing the image of
the country by holding street demonstrations because Malaysia’s success
all this while was the result of the hard work of the people.
“We have built this country. We have made sacrifices to bring
Malaysia where it is today. We must defend the country while at the same
time, allow them their basic righ to assemble,” he said.
He also questioned the opposition’s criticism of the Election
Commission that it was not fair, saying if this was the case, they would
not have won five states in the last general election and several
by-elections therefater.
“When they won the five states, they did not question the EC. When
they won the Sibu by-election, they did not fault the EC. Suddenly now
the EC is condemned. As though elections in Malaysia are dirty, unfair;
if they are not clean, not fair, show the evidence,” he said.
He said past victories (in elections) by the Barisan Nasional (BN)
was not because of any cheating but were obtained owing to the faith of
the people in the coalition’s abiblity to govern the nation well.
“We do not want to be elected through cheating. We are a government
chosen by the people. The majority of the people chose us because they
know the BN is better than them. That is why they chose us,” he said.
He said the BN government had set the agenda to make Malaysia a
developed nation with the people having high incomes by putting the
people first, besides fostering greater unity among the people based on
upholding the 1Malaysia concept.
“We have an agenda that is very clear for the nation. They
[opposition] do not. They only act destructively whereas we are
constructive and creative,” he added.
- Bernama
- Bernama
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