Bersih Rally - Yellow T-Shirt

U.B.D SG

Nov. 10th 2007 - Saturday/Sabtu

Dataran Merdeka - 3 pm
(in Yellow T-shirts, please)

BE THERE !!

http://bersih.org/

As some are aware unfortunately not all. This rally to bring about fair and clean election. Not to mention to curb the abuse of power and stop corruption that has gone ever rampant.

Approximately 70 nongovernmental organizations and opposition political parties have asked the government to implement a series of reforms to address widespread election irregularities.

Bersihs initial request to assemble in Merdeka Square in downtown Kuala Lumpur to march to the national palace to deliver a memorandum to the king was denied on the grounds that:

1. the organization was not a registered body,

2. City Hall had not approved use of the square,

3. the square would be otherwise occupied,

4. the march would inconvenience drivers, and

5. the march could affect public order.

The organizers disputed each of these points.

1. Although Bersih is not a registered organization, the participating groups are registered.

2. Organizers have pledged that Merdeka Square would be cleared in plenty of time for the subsequent event, and said that they chose this long holiday weekend to inconvenience as few drivers as possible.

3. To address public safety concerns, organizers have asked participants to refrain from carrying anything that could compromise the organizers peaceful intent and have assured the police that 600 volunteers in addition to those from participating political parties would be on hand to ensure a nonviolent and safe event.

4. Observers from neutral organizations have also been recruited.

Malaysias parliamentary elections have been characterized by vote buying, the use of public resources by the ruling parties, and gerrymandering.

The Election Commission has been accused of bias.

Bersih has asked that indelible ink be used to prevent voters from casting more than one vote, removal of alleged phantom voters from the electoral rolls, elimination of the widespread use of absentee ballots by government workers, and access to state-controlled media by all political parties.

To date, the Election Commission has only agreed to using indelible ink.

M.U

Unfortunately i did not join the rally and will only be kept updated from the ground. As much as i would love to be down there , my position however will further compromise and cause disfavourable remarks upon me and those associated with me.

U.B.D SG

Excerpts from Human Rights Watch Website.

Malaysia: Allow Rally for Electoral Reform
Risk of Misuse of Force by Authorities Against Peaceful Protestors

(New York, November 9, 2007) Police in Kuala Lumpur should permit a public rally and march organized by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (known as Bersih) to proceed as planned on Saturday November 10, Human Rights Watch said today. New elections, although not mandated before May 2009, are expected to take place early in 2008.

" If Malaysia wants to count itself a democracy, it can begin by upholding constitutional guarantees of free speech and assembly. The way the system works now, only the ruling coalition can get its messages out. "
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The grounds for refusing the rally are nonsense, said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. If Malaysia wants to count itself a democracy, it can begin by upholding constitutional guarantees of free speech and assembly. The way the system works now, only the ruling coalition can get its messages out.

Current Malaysian law bans public gatherings of more than five persons without a permit. Kuala Lumpurs police chief has warned the public that they risk arrest, fines and jail if they participate in the Bersih rally and march, adding that roadblocks and road closures would be in place. Police plans also include the deployment of some 4,000 officers and checks on all cars coming in from outside Kuala Lumpur. Malaysias inspector-general of police took the unusual step of reiterating the warnings.

Organizers of the Bersih rally only want to create a level playing field for all in the coming elections, yet they are being denied the basic right of expressing their concerns in a peaceful demonstration, said Adams. Prime Minister Badawi claims to be a reformer, but when it comes to holding onto power, he and his party make one set of rules for themselves and another for everyone else.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/11/09/malays17297.htm

U.B.D SG

PM Badawi who is also Internal Security Minister has claimed that instead of bringing the issue up with the government and the party , the illegal gathering is a challenge to the law of the country. He has urged the people to NOT attend this illegal gathering as it will only create discontent and chaos.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin said there will be several road closures and checkpoints throughout the city to keep people away from Dataran Merdeka.

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan has warned that such gathering is illegal and measures will be taken.

UMNO Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who is the Prime Minister's son-in-law, has urged the authorities to come down hard on a planned mass rally calling for electoral reforms to be held in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 10.

As the tough words are said , will this just be another 'BIG TALK , NO ACTION' If that is the case , there would not be any problems with maybe Keris wielding Khairy doing his usual ... gorilla tactics.

U.B.D SG

BERSIH RALLY UPDATE:

Althought water cannons , tear gases were fired at the crowds ,Mosques taken over by police , approximately 40,000 people managed to make its way to the Istana Negara where a 7 member delegation waited for the arrival of Anwar , Hadi Awang , Lim Kit Siang , Nasharuddin Mat Isa and Lim Guan Eng handed the memo to the King's secretary.Crowd was then ordered to disperse.

U.B.D SG

IMRAN IMTIAZ SHAH YACOB
10 November 2007
Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters and baton-wielding police turn Kuala Lumpurs streets into chaos

Central Kuala Lumpur turned chaotic Saturday as baton-wielding riot police used water cannon and tear gas to try and thwart an attempt by tens of thousands of marchers to deliver a petition to Malaysias king, asking for royal intervention in delivering electoral reform.

There is a massive jam all over town, as the police have set up road barricades everywhere, a witness told Asia Sentinel in the morning. A lot of entry points into the city are being monitored by the police. A heavy, heavy rain just subsided and one wonders whether this will dampen the turnout for the march.

It didnt. As many as 40,000 people struggled to make their way into the city center in defiance of the police ban on the rally before heading for the Istana Negara, the kings palace.

The confrontation between the countrys nine sultans and the government appears to be deepening as well, with Mizan Zainal Abidin, the Sultan of Terengganu, who currently holds the rotating kingship and is Malaysias constitutional head of state, ordering his royal guards to stand aside so that the marchers could deliver the petition despite the fact that police had refused to grant a permit for the rally. The delegation, led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, handed the memorandum to the King's secretary at the gate of the Istana Negara at 4 pm, accompanied by PAS' Hadi Awang and Nasharuddin Mat Isa and DAP's Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng. The organisers then asked the crowd to disperse

Malaysia's mainstream press, owned by the ethnic political parties, carried nothing on their websites about the protest, the biggest in Malaysia in a decade. Popular websites were jammed, apparently by government-allied cyber-jammers.

The protests were led by an organization called Bersih, or the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, an umbrella group encompassing 64 civil-society groups and five opposition political parties. The action Saturday was in direct defiance to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who earlier vowed that the government would crack down on the demonstrators. We will not hesitate to take action against those who defied our orders," state news agency Bernama quoted Kuala Lumpur police chief Zul Hasnan Najib as saying. The police had refused to grant a permit for the rally.

Abdullah Badawi Friday told a meeting of the leaders of the United Malays National Organization, the leading ethnic party in the Barisan Nasional, or ruling national coalition, that the government would not tolerate street demonstrations. They are challenging the patience of the people who want the country to be peaceful and stable. That is what they are challenging, not me, he told party leaders.

The protest is by far the biggest in KL since anti-government protests in 1998 that led to the arrest and jailing of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who now in effect leads the Parti Keadilan Rakyat despite regulations that bar him from political activity. The rally demonstrates vividly the growing dissatisfaction with Abdullah Badawi and raises questions of how strong his hold is on his own party or the government, since the protesters largely achieved their goals. And, with a sizable percentage of ethnic Malays as well as Chinese and Indians in the protest, it also demonstrates growing dissatisfaction with Malaysias race-based politics.

The protests have been sparked by continuing reports of rigged elections, judicial irregularities, widespread corruption in the dominant ethnically-based political parties, which have been in power since the country won independence from the British in 1957, and the perceived weakness of Badawi. In particular, the protesters point to a by-election in the town of Ijok in April, which the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition won in the face of what looked like a solid challenge by Parti Keadilan.

A Malaysian blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, charged earlier that of the 12,000 voters in the district, some 1,700 were phantom voters, with people as old as 107 still on the rolls. Others listed as voters were as young as eight years old. The ruling coalition outspent the opposition massively and, others charged, also bused in voters.

On Saturday, the government posted 4,000 police from the Field Reserve Unit to block all roads leading into Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square), the former cricket pitch in front of the colonial-era Selangor Club. That brought Kuala Lumpurs always chaotic traffic to a standstill and nearly paralyzed the city. Protesters abandoned vehicles and streamed toward the city center. They were asked to wear yellow as the color of the day because, according to flyers handed out all over the city, it is the color for citizen action worldwide and the color for the press-freedom movement. It also happens to be the color for Malaysias royalty.

And, although the countrys most prominent weblogs and Internet publications were largely shut down, the power of the Internet and cellphones was again vividly demonstrated by Malaysia Today, an Internet publication that posted minute-by-minute reports from witnesses, delivering such messages as Walkers are gathering in hundreds near Jalan Melayu (Malaya Road) Gate.

As websites were blocked, Malaysia Today delivered messages directing readers to other websites that were delivering eyewitness reports on the demonstrators until it too was shut down.

Another big group is walking toward the palace and two FRU (Field Reserve Unit) trucks are following them, anon. wrote at 3:23pm. Said another, We managed to reach the slope opposite the entrance to Istana Negara (the kings palace) at around 1pm, the Istana was sealed off! Are they putting our King under house arrest or protecting His Majesty from what?

At 3:26, the site reported that Malaysiakini, the leading online news site in the country, was running into communications problems. From that point forward, Malaysiakini was only online sporadically.

The website warned people not to wear yellow as they walked toward the city center, but to don the colors once they were inside.

At 3:34, another correspondent wrote that he could see police firing water cannons at demonstrators. It is shameful for the government to resort to that, he wrote.

Seven members of Bersih including the opposition party leaders were allowed to go to the gate to hand in the memorandum calling for the king's intervention in bringing poll reforms.