‘Panicky BN govt on verge of collapse’

Why did Prime Minister Najib promise a stadium protest if the Bersih movement was illegal?

KOTA KINABALU: The panicky handling of the Bersih 2.0 protest march on July 9 revealed that Barisan Nasional leaders are no longer confident of the peoples’ support, former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee said yesterday.

He said the denial of a permit by the police for a stadium rally after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had agreed to it makes one wonder “if the prime minister is in charge of his government or not”.

“How can the police and Home Minister reject all applications by Bersih on the sole ground that Bersih is not a registered society?

“If Bersih was illegal, then the prime minister should not have promised a stadium protest.

“If Bersih was illegal, then the authorities should not have asked Bersih to hold their stadium protests in Shah Alam or other stadiums outside Kuala Lumpur.

“The Agong even granted an audience to the Bersih leadership.

“All these confusions point to a panicky government that is on the verge of collapse,” he said in a statement.

Yong, who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, said Najib cannot be more wrong in claiming that the silent majority support the government over the Bersih campaign for clean and fair elections.

“In fact, the huge majority of people support the Bersih cause for clean, free and fair elections.

“Indeed, Bersih has managed to rally ordinary people to a reformist movement without involving political parties.

“The millions of people who stayed at home and who did not join the July 9 rally supported the Bersih cause morally and in other ways,” he said.