‘Umno Youth, Perkasa want to foil Bersih rally’

Karpal Singh says Umno Youth and Perkasa are deliberately holding their rallies on the same day to disrupt the Bersih rally.

GEORGE TOWN: The planned Umno Youth and Perkasa rallies are meant to foil, frustrate and disrupt the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9, said DAP national chairman Karpal Singh today.

He called on the police to strictly ensure that all rallies were held in a orderly way without any untoward incidents.

The veteran politician hoped that participants of the three proposed rallies would be separated and prevented from abusing each other.

He said the police should be on high alert especially when a person like Perkasa leader Ibrahim Ali, who couldn’t possibly control and check his senses, was around.

“He is capable of doing anything to disrupt the Bersih rally,” the two-term Bukit Gelugor MP told a press conference during his constituency visit.

He argued that Umno Youth and Perkasa could have easily organised their rallies on another day if their intention was genuine.

“But they are obviously organising rallies on the same day and same venue to counter and frustrate the Bersih rally. It’s a deliberate attempt to foil Bersih,” he said.

The rallies would be held in the city centre.

Bersih 2.0 is a coalition of 62 NGOs, promoting democracy and free and fair elections.

Perkasa and 30 Malay-based NGOs had announced their plan to organise a similar rally to oppose the Bersih rally. Umno Youth had also decided to hold a gathering on the same day.

The movement plans to hand over a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to support the democracy system and the role and reforms carried out by the Election Commission (EC).

So far police had not issued permits for any of the rallies.

Police had already warned of strong action, including using preventive laws, against those participating in illegal rallies.

Call to use ISA ‘misplaced’

Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan said she would be writing to the Kuala Lumpur police chief on how rally organisers and police could work together to hold a peaceful rally.

Yesterday, the Malaysian Council of Ex-Elected Representatives (Mubarak) called on the police to use the Internal Security Act (ISA) against the Bersih 2.0 rally organisers.

Karpal, a former ISA detainee, said the threat to use preventive laws against Bersih rally participants “was misplaced.”

He recalled that the last Bersih rally in 2007 had set a precedent where the Putrajaya administration had allowed a similar rally.

He suggested that Barisan Nasional could be afraid of the Bersih 2.0 that like the 2007 rally, it would inspire another political uproar against the ruling coalition.

He said that leaders, members and supporters of Pakatan Rakyat, comprising PKR, DAP and PAS, would turn out in full force to support the Bersih 2.0 rally.