Now that the king had spoken on the proposed Bersih rally for free and fair elections, Gerakan has offered some suggestions on how to end the crisis, which has resulted in scores of arrests by the police in the past week.
The party's human rights and legal bureau chief Baljit Singh proposed that the king instruct a royal commission of inquiry to look into the election system, which Bersih says is flawed.
Baljit added that the proposed RCI, comprising of non-partisan invididuals, should come up with suggestions to improve the system within a month.
"These suggestions should then be tabled in Parliament to improve and amend the election system at the next sitting," he said.
Baljit also suggested that a joint commission or caucus should be set up in Parliament, comprising of parliamentarians from both coalitions to look into the suggestions.
He added that since Bersih 2.0 chief Ambiga Sreenavasan and her team may be seeking an audience with the king, the memorandum on free and fair elections should be handed over to His Majesty directly.
Yesterday Ambiga said the movement, a coalition of more than 60 NGOs, had submitted a request for an audience with the King yesterday.
She added that the Bersih 2.0 steering committee, which met at an emergency meeting on Sunday, Sunday would "abide" with the Agong's advice.
Rally to be monitored
Meanwhile, Baljit and a team of lawyers would still be going to Kuala Lumpur to monitor the rally, planned for Saturday in Kuala Lumpur.
"People take to the streets as a last resort because the perception is that elections are neither free nor fair," he said.
However, he expressed total agreement with the Agong's view that the government and Bersih organisers to seek "moderation and compromise".
Baljit also urged the police to release all those detained in connection with the Bersih campaign.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia, including Sungai Siput member of Parliament, D Jeyakumar (right), have been detained under the 1960 Emergency Ordinance in Bukit Aman.
He added that the police must ensure that those who took advantage of the situation to assault reporters and damage property during an anti-Bersih and anti-Lim Guan Eng protest in Penang recently, be prosecuted.
Meanwhile, Penang PKR youth vice-chief Syed Mikael Rizal Aidid said all sectors must take heed of the king's advice to maintain peace and yet preserve freedom of speech of His Majesty's subjects.
"We urge that the war of words regarding His Majesty's speech in the media, including those in blogs, Facebook and Twitter be stopped immediately," he said, in a press conference in Penang.
Syed Mikael also called upon those who closed all doors to consultation and compromise such as the police and the Election Commission, open the way to resolve the current crisis.
"We believe and are confident that the King sincerely wants to hear the people's voices and resolve our sufferings," he added.
- Malaysiakini
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