Dataran Merdeka is for everyone, not just BN

YOURSAY 'The Dataran belongs to all Malaysians. As long as Bersih 3.0 events are held in an orderly fashion, it should be okay.'

Nazri: Dataran Merdeka not gazetted for assembly 

Gerard Lourdesamy: Dataran Merdeka not gazetted? What rubbish? Stadiums not gazetted, public squares and parks not gazetted, roads not gazetted, then where to gather? On the moon?

This is the farce called the Peaceful Assembly Act 2011, a piece of crap legislation used by PM Najib Razak to hoodwink the people and foreign governments that he is open, liberal and a reformist.

If not Dataran Merdeka, the rakyat should gather outside the new huge Istana Negara in Jalan Duta and petition our beloved king.

We are fed up with the games that Umno-BN is playing using the Parliament and the Election Commission (EC) as their rubber stamp.

If they want to hold on to power forever, just abolish Parliament and elections and become a dictatorship.

KAI: Minister in the PM's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said that "the venue cannot be used for a gathering, even a peaceful one."

Then why are people assembling there on National Day and also New Year's Eve?

Dr PM: I am surprised that Bersih 3.0 protesters cannot gather at Dataran Merdeka to express their views on free and fair elections. How then on every weekend people gather and have functions there?

Jalan Raja is closed at weekends by the police and City Hall to facilitate these functions. Traffic jams occur and people inconvenienced. Businesses are affected. Are these functions illegal?

If it is not, please explain how the Bersih rally to clean the country's electoral system is illegal. It appears there is a different set of laws for different people.

Metallic Black: Dataran Merdeka is built for multi-purpose use. It can be used for concerts, speeches, theme parties, exhibitions, sport events, public displays, family day events, and so on.

The Dataran belongs to all Malaysians, it was not built just for BN or Umno. As long as Bersih 3.0 events are held in an orderly and disciplined fashion, it should be okay.

Bersih should organise an event that include public concerts, debates, speeches and activities for all family members. Set up food and beverage stalls, cooking competitions, sport events and photography competitions.

I think 100,000 Malaysians will enjoy a nice afternoon on April 28. Bravo to the organisers.

SKT: I often see the authorities blocking Dataran Merdeka for marathon or tourism events, so how can 1Malaysia have 2Standards?

Fair Play: Nazri, you are not seeing the forest for the trees. Bersih 3.0 will go nationwide and selected locations internationally.

Have you asked yourself if BN acceded to Bersih 2.0 demands for a fair election, would there be any Bersih 3.0 to start with?

Disbeliever: The war has begun. The first salvo has been fired by Nazri, the clown minister. He has sent a clear message. He's telling in no uncertain terms that Bersih 3.0 cannot be held.

We have to push for reforms so that the coming GE will be held if not on a totally level-playing field, at least on a reasonably level field.

Pondering Why: Dataran Merdeka means Freedom Square. All Malaysians will gather at this square to ensure free and fair elections.

If Umno-BN and EC are committed to the same goals as Bersih, they should participate along with Bersih to demonstrate their commitment to live up to the aspirations of the people.

Otherwise the people will conclude that Umno-BN, with the cooperation of the EC, will unscrupulously cheat and manipulate the votes in order to win the forthcoming elections.

The Bersih 3.0 rally is fully justified and is should be held at Freedom Square to rid our beloved country from unbridled corruption, electoral manipulation and gross abuse of power by unscrupulous leaders.

Jeremy Ng: Our 'employees', i.e. the ruling politicians, are behaving as if they are bosses. It is time that all of them are terminated and replaced by a new team.

Malaysians, who are the real bosses, have tolerated these undisciplined and corrupted 'employees' for too long.

Khairy says no reason for Bersih to demonstrate

Quigonbond: Who's Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin kidding? The EC has just shot down six of the PSC's (parliamentary select committee) paltry recommendations.

The PSC itself bombs on the most important issues recommended by the coalition of NGOs passionate about having free and fair elections.

No way in this generation of Malaysians is the EC going to suddenly have a change of heart, genuinely consider the recommendations, and implement them pronto.

Far from it, they will continue to do everything in their power to ensure BN stays in federal government. The only way forward is to have overwhelming Malaysians (65 percent) vote Pakatan Rakyat.

Electoral reform may be an immediate Pakatan agenda, but BN should bear in mind that in the long term, if Pakatan wins despite lacking electoral reform, BN will never stand a chance to crawl back from being a federal opposition if the current system continues.

But we don't expect BN parliamentarians to think so far ahead, do we?

Anon-23: If the demands of Bersih have been met, why would the rakyat want to have Bersih 3.0?

It's the regime that has lost the plot and wants only to remain in power at all costs. It seems to me BN is against clean and fair elections and there's no need to wonder why.

Blind Freddo: For Khairy to make statements like that almost guarantees that Bersih will be bigger and stronger than ever before.

Kgen: Under the present conditions, there is no chance for free and fair elections. There is practically no chance that BN can be kicked out. The scum in BN aren't afraid of losing the election, they are only fighting to get back its two-thirds majority.

Recently even some African countries have undergone regime change via elections democratically. We are worse than them.

We are becoming like Arab countries where the regime in power can never lose no matter how unpopular. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak managed to win 90 percent of Parliament seats with almost no grassroots support.

Thanks to the lapdog EC, Malaysians have lost their right to self-determination.

Geronimo: "If we look at it honestly, seven out of the eight Bersih demands are already in the recommendations of the PSC," said Khairy.

Sorry, Khairy, I may have missed something here, but what are the seven that you speak of?

I dare say if GE13 was to go ahead, we will definitely need international observers to see for themselves the way Umno run the election.

And don't say you don't need such observers. After all, you people sent a Malaysian contingent to Burma, remember, to monitor the elections there? - Malaysiakini