At what price, institutional bullying?

The revelation in Parliament that RM2 million was spent in dealing with the Bersih 2.0 rally on July has further dented the image of government and the police.

COMMENT

RM2 million – that is the price the federal government had to pay for its recalcitrance in dealing with the July 9 ‘Walk for Democracy’.

It best describes the arrogant attitude of Najib Tun Razak’s administration which spared no effort to kill off the rally attempt by election watchdog Bersih 2.0.

This despite the fact that Bersih 2.0 chairperson S Ambiga giving her word that the rally would proceed peacefully.

The former Malaysian Bar Council chairman even offered to follow the routes dictated by the police, but instead the government started giving Bersih 2.0 sleepless nights, dictating terms and conditions to discourage the rally from proceeding.

Much to Najib’s chagrin, not only did the rally take place, it was said estimated to have attracted 50,000. That show of support was enough to turn the tables against his administration.

The rally was neither a circus, a nuisance nor was it an act of street violence. The aggression came about after the police fired tear gas and water cannons on the demonstrators.

This resulted in nearly 1,700 arrests and left scores of others injured. Come Sunday, it will mark three months since the ‘Walk for Dremocracy’ made its debut.

Post-July 9, the rakyat have become enlightened while the Barisan Nasional government currently occupying Putrajaya refuses to admit there has been hanky-panky at the polls.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told Parliament yesterday the police spent more than RM2 million and used 11,000 policemen to contain the Bersih rally on July 9.

“PDRM had to make preparations which included expenditure for additional fittings, food and drinks, lodging and other logistic needs,” Hishammuddin said in explaining the expenditures.

Cleansing of the electoral system

Contrary to claims by politicans with vested interests, the Bersih 2.0 rally had no hidden agenda. All they wanted is for the electoral system to be ‘cleansed’ of corruption and vote-rigging.

Instead, on the day of the rally, police fired tear gas and water cannons on the demonstrators, resulting in nearly 1,700 arrests and scores of others being injured.

There were numerous complaints of police high-handednes.

A notable example is the Tung Shin hospital incident where police were accused of firing tear-gas and spraying water cannon directly into the hospital compound.

As for the number of policemen deployed to Klang Valley from July 6 to 9, Hishammuddin stated they came from all over the country to help the Kuala Lumpur police contingent.

The number of policemen on duty that day in the Klang Valley were 11,046 with an additional of 2,600 officers on stand-by.

Had Najib applied maturity and allowed the rally on routes advised by the police, the trouble of despatching police personnel from elsewhere could have been avoided.

The wastage, both in terms of money and manpower is the Barisan Nasional government’s doing, not Bersih 2.0.

Playing a bully has caused the government much, in terms of its reputation, the image of the police and the rampant abuse of human rights taking place in the country.

BN – Be humble and listen

Listening to Bersih 2.0 would have brought no loss to Najib. Yet, he refused, claiming the government is against all form of street violence.

The fallacy that the rally represented anything but street violence begs correction. It was a peaceful walk to claim the people’s right to free and fair elections.

The ruckus erupted after the police started spraying water canons and tear gas on protesters. Had the situation turned extreme to warrant such action by the police? Was it wise, Najib?

Wisdom comes through maturity. In premier Najib’s case, that has yet to happen, as seen from his knee-jerk reactions post-July 9.

One of the so-called changes being put in place is the abolishment of the Internal Security Act among others, purportedly to make Malaysia the best democracy in the world.

The setting up of the parliamentary select committee (PSC) to look into cleaning up Malaysia’s election system is another ad-hoc response, the motive being to assure the rakyat that the BN-government is ‘prihatin’ or considerate to their plights.

However, the PSC move has been warily welcome after Najib failed to promise the implementation of reforms before the 13th general election. He is likely call for snap polls within the next six months.

The PSC, which held its first meeting yesterday morning, will have six months to do its job and make recommendations on ways to improve the electoral process.

Refusing to admit that the electoral system is flawed, the PSC’s existence is instead being credited as an act of good will to prevent accusations of bias against the Election Commission in the future.

Recalcitrance has its price, in case Najib has forgotten.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance journalist and a FMT columnist.