Anwar Ibrahim |
- Crackdown 2.0 in Malaysia
- Malaysia: Police Use Brutal Tactics Against Peaceful Protester
- My Bersih 2.0 Experience
- Press Release: The Will Of The People Trumps Government Repression And Police Aggression
- Nota Perbahasan YB Azmin Ali DiSidang Dewan Selangor
- Truth That Cannot Be Cover – Bersih 2.0
- Thousands Of Malaysians Rally For Changes To Elections
- The Walk For Clean & Fair Elections In Malaysia
| Posted: 11 Jul 2011 07:49 PM PDT With its response to Bersih 2.0, a rally for electoral reform, the government has created an environment of fear and repression Based on the evidence of this weekend’s rally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysians aspire for a more competitive political system than what they have. Also based on this weekend’s evidence, Prime Minister Najib Razak isn’t prepared to give it to them. An estimated 20,000 or more people peacefully gathered in Kuala Lumpur Saturday to call for free and fair elections. Their complaints included vote-rigging and gerrymandering of constituencies to the ruling party’s benefit. Bersih 2.0, as the rally was called, was the biggest event of its kind in four years. The original Bersih (the word means “clean” in Malay) called for electoral reforms in 2007. As with the original rally, this one was met not by understanding from the government but by police deploying tear gas and water cannons. More than 1,600 attendees were detained and released late Sunday. One demonstrator died from a heart attack. View Full Image Associated Press The crackdown was little surprise given the government’s actions before the rally. Over the past two weeks, the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) tried its best to intimidate the organizers. More than 200 activists and opposition members were detained, some on charges of “waging war” against Malaysia’s constitutional monarch. The police arrested those wearing T-shirts affiliated with Bersih. The army publicly conducted crowd-control exercises. The situation was on the boil until the king intervened, asking both sides to settle differences. Mr. Najib offered a stadium to host the rally but then backed off. Last Thursday, he appeared with a group of martial artists who vowed to “wage war” against Bersih, saying: “If there are evil enemies who want to attack the country from within, you, my brothers, will rise to fight them.” His scare tactics backfired as thousands of protesters, further angered, arrived from across the country. Saturday’s rally has united and energized the political opposition. So the government is now downplaying the entire event and even blaming Bersih for creating chaos. The police claim only 6,000 protesters showed up. Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein complimented police efforts to keep control despite “being challenged and provoked.” He said the protesters sought “to be arrested in order to portray the government as cruel.” If the government is going to respond like this—intimidation followed by denial—a Bersih 3.0 could eventually materialize, though organizers have ruled it out anytime soon. Underlying this weekend’s events is growing public impatience with UMNO as Malaysians find rising inflation, coupled with slow reforms, eating into their standard of living. Saturday’s turnout is a sign that Malaysians also understand the link between true democracy and good government. On Sunday, Mr. Najib called on the “silent majority” of Malaysians, who he claims opposed Bersih, to speak up. If he continues to create an environment of fear and repression, he may find this silent majority speaking up soon, but against him. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Malaysia: Police Use Brutal Tactics Against Peaceful Protester Posted: 11 Jul 2011 07:39 PM PDT 11 July 2011 The UK government must press Malaysia's Prime Minister on freedom of assembly in his visit this week, Amnesty International said today, after peaceful protesters in Kuala Lumpur were met with police violence and 1,667 arrests at the weekend. Police arrested peaceful demonstrators, fired teargas canisters directly at protesters, and teargassed a hospital compound on 9 July, in attempts to stop the electoral reform rally known as Bersih 2.0 from gathering in a stadium. One protester, 56-year-old Baharuddin Ahmad, collapsed near the landmark Petronas Towers while fleeing teargas, and was pronounced dead later in hospital. "Prime Minister Najib's government rode roughshod over thousands of Malaysians exercising their right to peaceful protest," said Donna Guest, deputy Asia-Pacific director at Amnesty International. "This violent repression by the Royal Malaysian Police flies in the face of international human rights standards, and cannot be allowed to continue. Any future peaceful demonstrations should be permitted and respected by the authorities." Amnesty International is calling on the Malaysian authorities to investigate claims that police failed to provide prompt assistance to Baharuddin Ahmad before his death, including reports that an ambulance arrived only an hour and a half after he collapsed. Many protesters were beaten by police and officers of the Federal Reserve Unit, a special force used to suppress mass public assembly. One of the numerous Youtube videos of police violence shows plainclothes officers kicking a protester lying on the ground, while uniformed police stand by. Police also fired tear gas canisters directly at protesters, including members of the parliamentary opposition. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was injured after a canister was fired in his direction, and Khalid Samad, a Pan-Islamic Islamic Party (PAS) member of parliament, was injured after being hit in the neck by a canister. Tear gas was also fired at a hospital where protesters had retreated, putting the health of patients at risk, although this was denied by the Malaysian police. "The British government shouldn't reward this brutality by rolling out a red carpet for Malaysia's prime minister," said Donna Guest. "David Cameron should tell Prime Minister Najib that these human rights violations against peaceful reform protesters are unacceptable." Amnesty International is also calling on the Vatican to press Najib to respect human rights when the Malaysian leader visits Rome later this week. "The use of force by police at this rally was excessive, unnecessary and designed to instil fear," said Donna Guest. Around 40 people arrested in the run-up to the rally still face prosecution. Most have been charged under Section 49 of the Societies Act for possession of illegal materials, including Bersih T-shirts. Six members of the Socialist Party (PSM) have been indefinitely detained without charge under an Emergency Ordinance since 2 July. One of them, member of parliament Dr Jeyakumar Kumar, was hospitalized 10 July for a heart condition following days of prolonged interrogations. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 11 Jul 2011 07:32 PM PDT So I went. I have to say that the night before I had many many misgivings, especially after reading about the army doing exercises with the FRU. Could the government seriously be contemplating shooting their own people? Who knows? My stomach was in knots thinking about the many young people I knew who were intent on going, including my daughter. Would I be able to forgive myself if something happened to them? After seeking advice from various friends, I finally decided that I could not stay safely at home while my daughter, friends and colleagues faced possible danger. I had to walk with them. Besides even if I stayed home, I would have spent all my time worrying. So I had to go. A friend who lived in the city offered to be my protector and together we devised a plan on what to do. Hubby was supportive and gave some advice on how to stay safe. My neighbours also wanted to come along. So fairly earlyish, my friend drove over to get me with no problem and we headed back into the city. Despite the roadblocks in some areas, we encountered no problems. In fact driving into KL was so pleasant because the roads were so clear. The police directed traffic where they had to and were generally cooperative ( except for one we saw arguing with a man trying to get into his own condo). We got to a roadblock in the KLCC area and my friend explained that he lived in the area and they let us through, four people in a car dressed as if we were going hiking! From my friend's apartment block, we walked to Times Square and parked ourselves at the Starbucks for a coffee while we waited. A cursory look around the outlet and mall revealed that many people were doing the same thing. Meanwhile a whole van of police was stationed outside the mall but after a while they all went off. We kept in touch with various friends around the city to find out where they were and what the situation was. At about 12.30 we started to walk up Jalan Hang Tuah towards the stadium area. We were not in big groups, just people out on a weekend stroll. We thought we would encounter police in front of the big police headquarters in front of Pudu Jail but there was nothing. When we got to the corner of Jalan Hang Jebat, we saw some police motorcycles and only a couple of cops. Lots of people were just sitting on the curbside under the eye of the cops. It was pretty clear what all these people were there for. We walked along Jalan Hang Jebat in front of Stadium Negara towards the OCM and found many other friends waiting there. Apparently at one point the cops had given chase even though there was no reason to and caught some people and hauled them off. But from then on we could sit and wait by the curb without anyone disturbing us. Jalan Hang Jebat and the small road that led up to Stadium Merdeka stayed pretty quiet. Members of the Bar Council (who had to suffer wearing their suits in the heat just so that we could spot them easily) walked around observing what was happening. At one point one woman in a suit sat herself at the intersection to take notes. One lone woman lawyer at her station, Jln Hang Jebat We all debated whether to stay there or move down to Petaling Street but we were afraid that we wouldn't be let back up again. Then it started to rain. My friend and I sought shelter under some hoarding along with young people. Just then I got a message that we were to go to KL Sentral. After confirming this with a friend at Sentral, my friends and I started to walk down Hang Jebat just as a large group of people started walking up. The rain was pouring at that point and I didn't know quite what to do, whether to tell people they should turn round or not. Seeking shelter for a while under a shop five-foot way, I talked to various other friends and eventually decided to head back to the stadium area where I found my daughter and lots of other friends there. The main group earlier had gone up to Stadium Merdeka, did some chanting in front of the FRU and then headed down again. But many people hung about just to observe everything and soak in the atmosphere. One group of young people had yellow ribbons on sticks and started a little dance. Others were buying ice cream from a bicycle vendor who came by. There was a real carnival atmosphere. Here’s a video of the rally yesterday taken by my daughter. As you can see, it was peaceful. And every time some people started chanting ‘reformasi’, someone else would start a louder chant of ‘Bersih’. I have to say that I never felt safer than when I was in the crowd. People recognized me and said hello. Some wanted to take photos. It didn't feel any different from any other Saturday out. And to be perfectly fair, the cops and FRU in my area showed admirable restraint. They saw that people were not doing anything more than chanting and nobody was harming anyone so they just stood there and left everyone to do their thing. We came across a whole FRU unit blocking a lane next to the Chinese temple at the roundabout at the bottom of Jalan Maharajalela, waved at them and they waved. Cool cops! Of course not everyone had the same experience. Here's an account from a colleague who was in a different street: We were all tear-gassed at least three, four times. An NGO staffer was hit by a canister. V told me that she saw people jumping off the second floor of the Puduraya bus terminal because the police had released tear gas too close to the terminal and the wind carried the fumes into the enclosed building. When the marchers ran for shelter in Tung Shin Hospital, the police fired tear gas and water cannons INTO the hospital grounds. Later the police lured us into re-assembling on the road on the pretext of negotiating a peaceful dispersal. They arrested the MP (Sivarasa) who was doing the negotiating, then — after ordering us to sit down so (as we realised later) we would be sitting ducks — they fired more tear gas and water cannons at us. A, myself and our companions eventually managed to find a way out from the trap via the Santo Antonius church and (irony of ironies) the car park of the Hang Tuah police station (near the monorail station). There were so many very brave people yesterday. I now know that smearing toothpaste under the eyes to reduce irritation caused by tear gas actually works (thanks, A)! I’m still itchy and short of breath from all that tear gas, which is a bit annoying. But really, mostly what I remember of the rally was how moving it was: the solidarity among the protesters, how people looked out for one another. Whenever I was tear-gassed there was a stranger running along at my side and offering me and my friends salt to counteract the effects. When the police sprayed chemical-laced water cannons into the crowd and the people affected cried out for water to wash the stuff away, others turned and ran back toward the cannons with bottles of water to help. People helped others climb up a hill towards the hospital to escape (some guy helped me up the steep slope). Someone always stepped up to make sure that a panicked run doesn’t turn into a stampede, including an elderly woman who took it upon herself to guide the marchers to safety. She’s a first-time marcher to boot! Actually there were lots of first-time marchers, and more young middle-class urbanites than I’ve ever seen at any other rallies including the 2007 Bersih rally. At one point people started picking up the tear gas canisters and throwing them back at the police, or kicking the canisters safely away from the marchers and bystanders. I heard via the #bersihstories Twitter hashtag when the police fired tear gas into Tung Shin, there were people who grabbed the canisters and wrapped them in their own towels, then threw the canisters into the drain so there wouldn’t be so much fumes. And another one, about people's goodness: My group has a lovely little story to tell as well, of how we escaped from the Tung Shin hospital area after one of the tear gas attacks. We took a little alley uphill between the shophouses, and there was a block of flats there. One of the residents told us to go through the building to get out through the back! We climbed upstairs and then along the opposite corridor a woman shouted and pointed, “That way, go that way, there is an exit out the back!” and we scuttled along our corridor, down the back stairs and found ourselves safe outside on Changkat Tung Shin or something like that. Rakyat all contributing in their own ways! There are many stories and photos, both good and bad, of the whole event. But to me what was most important was that Malaysians proved two things: one, they can assemble together on a common cause peacefully and two, therefore showed that they are a mature people. The fact is that there were all kinds of people there, young and old, all races and religions and all classes and creeds. I bumped into many young people, the children of my friends, who had come to see what it was all about and decide for themselves what to think about the issue. Do these people look like hooligans to you? Whatever one thinks about the issue that Bersih is espousing, we should all be proud of our fellow Malaysians who did not, despite dire predictions by some, behave like hooligans and destroy property and hurt one another. There were people hurt and one death but people who had participated in the rally did not cause them. The restaurants and shops around the area were doing roaring business as people got thirsty and hungry. There are also some people claiming that the world now has a bad impression of Malaysia because the foreign media (and the local media for that matter) reported only about the teargassing and water-cannoning. I think people are confusing the government with the people. Yes, the world now has a bad impression of the Malaysian government because it has handled this whole issue so badly. They don't have the same impression of the Malaysians who stood up for their rights and their cause. This is what gives a good impression: protestors and police shaking hands before dispersing at 4pm. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Press Release: The Will Of The People Trumps Government Repression And Police Aggression Posted: 11 Jul 2011 06:49 AM PDT Looking back at the events of the past few weeks, the Malaysian Government must realise and accept that neither random arrest, nor preventive detention, nor water cannons, nor tear gas, nor rain, nor the threat of any of the above and more, can quell the spirit of the people to exercise their rights to the twin freedoms of assembly and expression. The two rallies held on 9 July 2011 are eloquent testimony to the will of the people in the face of Government repression and police aggression. The Malaysian Bar denounces the Government's over-zealous and excessive show of power in its blatant determination to crush the people's exercise of their Constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights. According to media and eyewitness accounts, the police used arbitrary, improper and disproportionate physical force, including assaulting some participants physically, wantonly arresting hundreds of individuals and recklessly using tear gas and water cannons on unarmed participants who were gathered in a peaceful and disciplined manner. The Government must never abuse its power, particularly to undermine the very freedoms that it is responsible to uphold and defend. The elementary freedoms of assembly and expression entitle the rakyat to voice their concerns and grievances, and to call for redress. The Malaysian Bar calls on the police to adhere to the United Nations ("UN") Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, of which Malaysia is a member. Article 3 provides that "[l]aw enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty". Furthermore, in 1990 Malaysia adopted the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which mandate that law enforcement officials "shall, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force", and may use force "only if other means remain ineffective". Even when the use of lawful force is unavoidable, law enforcement officials must "exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness to the offence". Another basic principle is that "the deployment of non-lethal incapacitating weapons should be carefully evaluated in order to minimise the risk of endangering uninvolved persons, and the use of such weapons should be carefully controlled". The police reportedly fired several rounds of tear gas into the compound of a hospital along Jalan Pudu, one of many acts that day that were antithetical to these basic principles. The Malaysian Bar calls for a thorough and independent investigation by SUHAKAM, by way of an inquiry on its own motion, into the use of aggression and undue force by the police. We acknowledge the co-operation given by the police to members of the Bar's monitoring teams during the rallies. The Malaysian Bar will submit its report on the events of 9 July 2011, along with its recommendations, to the Inspector General of Police shortly. We also urge the immediate and unconditional release of the six individuals who are still being detained under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969. These individuals should be charged and tried in open court instead. Furthermore, their habeas corpusapplications should be heard expeditiously and without further delay. From lessons worldwide, it is clear that the voice of the people cannot be silenced. Our Government ignores the wishes and resolve of the people at its peril, and should, instead, rise to the occasion, to embrace and protect its people's freedoms and rights consistent with a true democracy. Lim Chee Wee 11 July 2011 |
| Nota Perbahasan YB Azmin Ali DiSidang Dewan Selangor Posted: 11 Jul 2011 06:47 AM PDT 1. Anggaran Perbelanjaan Bekalan Tambahan di bawah Maksud B29 Perbelanjaan Am sebanyak RM81.1 juta termasuk RM61.6 juta untuk bayaran bil air percuma dan cetakan kupon bagi tempoh September sehingga Disember 2011 ekoran kedegilan Kerajaan Pusat untuk mengambil sikap bertanggungjawab bagi menyelesaikan isu ini yang berlarutan sekian lama dan membebankan rakyat. 2. Kerajaan Pusat tidak langsung menunjukkan minat untuk peduli terhadap kebajikan rakyat Negeri Selangor sebaliknya lebih cenderung untuk melindungi kepentingan kroni dan memperkayakan kroni-kroni pimpinan UMNO. Pinjaman Kepada SYABAS 3. Pada Suku Tahun Keempat 2010, Kerajaan Pusat telah memberikan kemudahan pinjaman kepada SYABAS sejumlah RM320 juta. Syarat-syarat pinjaman pula berat sebelah (lopsided) dan berpihak kepada SYABAS. Antara syaratnya ialah : 4. Skim ini lebih berupa sebagai satu geran dan bukan pinjaman. Kedudukan Kewangan Negeri Selangor Kukuh 6. Usaha Kerajaan Negeri di bawah pimpinan Menteri Besar memberikan cadangan balas kepada Kerajaan Pusat ke arah penyelesaian demi rakyat, menunjukkan kebolehan dan kemampuan Menteri Besar dan Pakatan Rakyat untuk mengurus ekonomi dengan cekap dan bertanggungjawab. Walaupun Kerajaan Pusat masih berdolak dalik dalam usaha menyelesaikan isu penstrukturan semula industri air di Negeri Selangor, saya yakin Kerajaan Negeri punyai kemampuan untuk meneruskan program air percuma ini berdasarkan kedudukan kewangan yang kukuh. 8. Pada 31 Disember 2010, pelaburan yang dicatatkan oleh Negeri Selangor berjumlah RM668 juta dan wang tunai simpanan Kerajaan Negeri berjumlah RM900 juta. 9. Tatakelola yang baik dan ketelusan yang menjadi asas pentadbiran Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Negeri Selangor telah memperlihatkan lonjakan jumlah pelaburan dan wang tunai simpanan Kerajaan Negeri. Pada Suku Tahun Kedua 2011, pelaburan telah mencapai RM557 juta dan wang tunai simpanan Kerajaan Negeri berjumlah RM1.2 bilion. 10. Ini menunjukkan bagi tahun 2010, jumlah wang tunai dan pelaburan yang direkodkan berjumlah RM1.58 bilion. Manakala, bagi Suku Tahun Kedua 2011, ianya meningkat kepada RM1.76 bilion. Ini menunjukkan bahawa dalam masa enam bulan sahaja, Kerajaan Negeri sudah dapat meningkatkan rizab sebanyak RM200 juta. Penstrukturan Semula Perkhidmatan Industri Air Negeri Selangor 11. Cadangan penstrukturan semula perkhidmatan industri air Negeri Selangor secara menyeluruh (holistik) perlu diteruskan dan dipertahankan demi rakyat. Model holistik bagi maksud ini perlu bertegas supaya konsesi air ditamatkan segera dan Kerajaan Negeri Selangor yang menguasai ekuiti dalam Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) mestilah diberikan lesen oleh Suruhanjaya Pengurusan Air Negara (SPAN) menurut Akta Perkhidmatan Industri Air 2006 untuk beroperasi dan menyelenggarakan perkhidmatan industri air demi rakyat Negeri Selangor. 12. Kerajaan Negeri Selangor tidak boleh tunduk dengan tuntutan Kerajaan Pusat bagi pihak SYABAS untuk membenarkan kenaikan tarif air sekurang-kurangnya sebanyak 15%. Sebarang cadangan pertambahan tarif yang munasabah hendaklah dibincangkan dan dipersetujui oleh Kerajaan Negeri melalui perbahasan dalam Dewan Negeri Selangor yang bertanggungjawab menggalas amanah rakyat Negeri Selangor. 14. Rakyat Negeri Selangor tidak mahu meneruskan dasar dan amalan Kerajaan Pusat yang memberikan kebebasan kepada pengendali air untuk menekan rakyat dan pada masa yang sama, berlaku kecurangan dan ketidak cekapan kos melalui sistem yang ada sekarang. Projek Rawatan Air Langat 2 15. Saya juga ingin menarik perhatian Dewan berhubung projek Kerajaan Pusat untuk membina kemudahan perawatan air di Langat 2. Persoalannya, apakah benar dakwaan Kerajaan Pusat bahawa akan berlaku krisis air pada 2014 sehingga Kerajaan Pusat tergesa-gesa untuk membina loji rawatan air di Langat 2. Kita boleh merujuk kepada banyak kajian dan kritik berhubung cadangan Kerajaan Pusat yang berpendapat keputusan membina Langat 2 adalah bersifat spekulasi dan berat sebelah kerana kajian yang diguna pakai oleh Kerajaan Pusat dibuat oleh Ranhill dan SMHB Sdn Bhd yang kedua-duanya adalah pemain-pemain utama dalam industri air. Kementerian Tenaga, Teknologi Hijau dan Air mendakwa bahawa sekiranya Projek Pahang – Selangor Raw Water Transfer yang menelan kos RM9 bilion tidak diteruskan, Selangor akan menghadapi krisis air. Ini merupakan cerita yang sudah lapuk. SYABAS pernah mendakwa bahawa Selangor akan menghadapi krisis air pada tahun 2007. Orang yang sama dan bersama Kementerian Tenaga, Teknologi Hijau dan Air kini mengulangi dakwaan yang sama bahawa krisis air akan berlaku pada tahun 2014. 18. National Water Resources Study (2000 – 2050) membuat unjuran yang tidak menepati garis panduan water supply system oleh Malaysian Water Association 1994 berpandukan kriteria yang direka oleh JKR. 19. Kriteria yang diguna pakai oleh NWRS adalah : 20. Sepatutnya, isu Non Revenue Water (NRW) perlu ditangani segera. Menurut NWRS, ketirisan adalah sebanyak 35% dan melalui projek Pahang – Selangor Raw Water Transfer, unjuran mencatatkan air dibekalkan sebanyak 1,150 mld. 21. Walau bagaimanapun, pakar-pakar industri air membuat dapatan dalam kajian bahawa 55% daripada jumlah air ini mampu dijana (generate) jika kita dapat mengurangkan ketirisan (leakage). NWRS juga mendakwa bahawa pertumbuhan ekonomi sebanyak 8 – 9 % sedangkan pada masa sekarang pertumbuhan hanya di sekitar 4 – 5% sahaja. 23. Ini menunjukkan bahawa unjuran yang dibuat menurut kajian NWRS tersebut mempunyai perbezaan yang cukup ketara (glaring discrepancies). 24. Kita harus melihat dan mengkaji semula tren penggunaan air domestik. United Nations telah membuat rekomendasi bagi penggunaan air sebanyak 200 liter sehari per kapita. 25. Penggunaan air yang dirawat dapat dikurangkan terutamanya dalam kempen konservasi air melibatkan penggunaan air di tandas-tandas, membasuh kenderaan, menyiram pokok-pokok dan sebagainya (non essential activities). Cadangan 26. Saya ingin mencadangkan kepada Kerajaan Negeri untuk mengambil langkah-langkah berikut yang turut mengambil kira isu climate change. b. Kerajaan Negeri harus menurut piawai antarabangsa. Menurut Comment 15 : UN Convention on Rights to Water mencadangkan bahawa hanya mereka yang benar-benar miskin (hardcore poor) patut diberikan air percuma. Ini merupakan best practice yang patut menjadi dasar pemberian air percuma. c. Kerajaan Negeri boleh memperkenalkan rain water harvesting untuk non-essential activities. Menurut kajian UKM, pengguna rain water harvesting boleh mengurangkan bil air di antara 40 ke 50 %. d. Mengurangkan penggunaan air menerusi program kempen konservasi. |
| Truth That Cannot Be Cover – Bersih 2.0 Posted: 11 Jul 2011 01:48 AM PDT |
| Thousands Of Malaysians Rally For Changes To Elections Posted: 11 Jul 2011 01:09 AM PDT Police officers arrested almost 1,700 people and fired tear gas at protesters here in Malaysia's capital on Saturday in an attempt to prevent an afternoon rally by advocates of an overhaul of elections. Officials said that protest leaders were among those arrested. Demonstrators were seen scattering as the police fired tear gas on Saturday afternoon. In one late-afternoon skirmish, the police volleyed tear gas at thousands of protesters near the city's Central Market. The Associated Press reported that the police also used chemical-laced water to disperse some demonstrators. Roads leading into Kuala Lumpur, as well as some streets in the city, remained closed late in the afternoon as helicopters hovered over the city center. The confrontation was the culmination of weeks of tension, as activists have called on Prime Minister Najib Razak to change the way elections are conducted. The next vote must be held by mid-2013, but there is speculation it could be called as early as this year. The demonstration on Saturday was organized by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, also known as Bersih, or "clean" in Malay. The coalition is made up of 62 nongovernmental organizations. Key leaders of the Bersih movement, most of them dressed in the group's distinctive yellow T-shirts, and some opposition party leaders were arrested after they tried to walk from the Kuala Lumpur Central Station to Merdeka Stadium, where they had planned to hold a rally. After forcing their way past security and into the city's main train station, the Bersih leaders tried to leave from the other side of the station, where they were met by riot police officers who fired tear gas. The opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and one of his bodyguards were injured as they tried to flee and were being treated in a hospital on Saturday afternoon, said Latheefa Koya, chief of the opposition People's Justice Party's legal bureau. Speaking at a news conference before she was arrested on Saturday, Ambiga Sreenevasan, chairwoman of Bersih, said the arrests and the use of tear gas had "stirred a sense of outrage against the exhibition of raw power by our government." "What is the necessity for this show of might against right? No matter what, right will always prevail," she said. Ms. Ambiga said she had been released about 6:30 p.m. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy and a democracy with regular national elections, but Bersih organizers say that elections are vulnerable to manipulation. They have issued a list of eight demands, including marking voters with indelible ink to prevent them from casting ballots more than once, purging electoral rolls of "phantom voters" and ensuring that opposition parties have equal access to the mainstream news media. The group is also calling for a royal commission to investigate how elections are conducted. Last Saturday, the government declared Bersih illegal because it had not registered as an organization and was causing unrest among the public. Bersih countered that it was not a new organization, but rather an alliance of existing groups. Mr. Najib had said the coalition could hold the rally if it agreed to meet in a stadium, rather than on the streets as first planned. Bersih organizers agreed to the terms, but the authorities then said that Bersih could not proceed without a police permit, which normally would not be granted to a group that has been declared illegal. The government had said that Bersih could hold a rally at a stadium outside the city, but the group's leaders insisted that it be held at Merdeka Stadium. Bersih leaders also accused the prime minister of having "reneged" on his offer to provide a stadium for their rally. On Saturday, Mr. Najib described the protest as "an illegal rally organized by a section of our community," according to a report by the national news agency Bernama. "If there are people who want to hold the illegal rally, there are even more who are against their plan to hold the illegal gathering," Bernama quoted Mr. Najib as saying. Ong Kian Ming, a political analyst at UCSI University in Kuala Lumpur, said the police had prevented demonstrators from gathering at the stadium. "I think the police lost more credibility than the protesters," he said, adding that there had been no reports of demonstrators attacking the police or damaging property. "I think it would be hard for the police to justify why they needed such a massive presence." Before Saturday, 225 people had been arrested in connection with the Bersih movement under various laws, including the Sedition Act and Emergency Ordinance, which allows for detention without trial. On Thursday, the police said six people remained in custody. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other rights groups condemned the arrests and called on the government to stop harassing people associated with Bersih. "This brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters is undermining Malaysia's claim to be a moderate democracy. Mr. Najib's government has chosen the path of repression, not reform," Amnesty International said in a statement on Saturday. The protest on Saturday was one of the biggest in recent years in Malaysia. A street rally calling for similar election changes in 2007 was credited with helping the opposition make historic gains in the 2008 elections. |
| The Walk For Clean & Fair Elections In Malaysia Posted: 11 Jul 2011 12:56 AM PDT
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