“Do not take any threatening action (towards the administration). We will not bow to threats but since they (PR) have a political motive, they are trying to make it look as though the government is insensitive, our electoral system is outdated and that our general elections had been conducted improperly,” Bernama Online quoted the deputy prime minister as saying today.
Muhyiddin today maintained the establishment line on the list of electoral reforms demanded by Bersih, but added that Barisan Nasional was also interested in improving the present system.
“Our electoral system has been tested for more than five decades and this system should be accepted by all,” he said.
Bersih is persisting with its eight reform demands for free and fair elections, but chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has said that no further rallies are being planned.
The July 9 Bersih rally has sent the Najib administration on the back foot, and criticism of the way it suppressed the mass gathering has taken on a global nature.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrived in the UK for a four-day visit last week and was greeted by a scathing editorial in The Guardian that compared his administration to ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
On Tuesday, US national daily The Wall Street Journal said the government’s response to the Bersih 2.0 rally has created an environment of fear and repression in Malaysia.
Despite the efforts to prevent the rally from taking place, tens of thousands converged on the capital city in a march for free and fair elections.
The protest, which the government earlier declared illegal, turned chaotic close to midday when the police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protestors.
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