No mention of court order at IGP meet, says Ambiga

By Shannon Teoh

July 07, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has questioned the Inspector General of Police’s sincerity in meeting Bersih this afternoon after Kuala Lumpur police obtained court orders to bar leaders of the electoral reforms movement from entering the city this Saturday.

The Bersih chief toldThe Malaysian Insiderthat Tan Sri Ismail Omar made no mention of the court order that prevents a whopping 91 persons from the movement, Umno Youth and Perkasa from entering the capital, despite the meeting taking place at the same time the order was sought.

“Why were we not told when the whole time we were talking the IGP knew we were going to apply for Stadium Merdeka?

“We are very surprised that a court order for the same area was being sought at the very time that we were speaking to the IGP,” the former Bar Council president said.

The court order also allows city police to shut down roads, effectively paralysing any attempts to rally on the day.

Bersih had insisted after leaving Bukit Aman today that it will not move its rally away from Stadium Merdeka on Saturday, stating that it was too late for its supporters to change their plans.

It also demanded that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who proposed on Monday that Bersih move its street march to a stadium, instruct Stadium Merdeka to allow the coalition of 62 NGOs to hold its rally in the historical venue.

“This is another instance where we will ask the public to judge the authorities by their actions,” Ambiga (picture) added.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong had stepped in on Sunday to defuse tension by advising the Najib administration and Bersih 2.0 to hold consultations over the issue of free and fair elections.

Despite Bersih meeting Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on Tuesday and accepting Najib’s offer, the prime minister said yesterday that the now outlawed Bersih would still have to make an official application to the police.

The police have continued to make arrests in connection with the rally, most of which revolving around yellow T-shirts with the word Bersih emblazoned on them in a clampdown that has also seen Bersih being declared illegal.