Najib starts to ramp up resistance to Bersih: Perkasa fires first salvo

It looks Prime Minister Najib Razak is starting to ramp up resistance against the planned Bersih 3.0 sit-down protest planned for April 28, with Umno-linked ultra Malay rights group Perkasa calling Bersih co-chairman Samad Said, who is also the national laureate, a "traitor".

"This is just the beginning and we expect it to get worse later on but Najib is only sealing his own grave by pulling such nonsense. The people will teach him a lesson," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Ambiga Sreenevasan, the other chairman of the Bersih movement for free and fair elections, was also accused of being anti-Muslim. This is not the first time Perkasa has hurled such bigoted remarks at Ambiga.

“Samad Said, don’t be a traitor to the nation. It is very clear who is Ambiga. I stand strong in my conviction that she is anti-Muslim,” Malaysian Insider quoted Perkasa Youth chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris as saying.

Rattling the same sabre

But alarming though Irwan may sound, he was rattling the same sabre. Perkasa, founded by Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali, has the support Umno bigwigs including former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who is its patron, as well as PM Najib, who is also the current Umno president.

During the run-up Bersih 2.0 rally held on July 9, 2011, Najib had unleashed the full force of his authority, office, police, government machinery, Umno and its NGOs at Bersih supporters. He outlawed the movement and even arrested all those who wore yellow t-shirts - Bersih's signature color.

But it failed to dent the determination of some 50,000 Malaysians who gathered to demand for a clean up of the electoral system, known to favour the BN with large-scale gerrymandering, phantom voters and vote buying put in place and practiced through the decades.

The real traitors

Nonetheless, Irwan and Perkasa did not mention or acknowledge this dimension of the Bersih struggle.

“Don’t you dare try to get our students involved, Samad Said. Don’t you become a traitor. You are a Muslim. You have to show that you are not supporting Ambiga. You should be protecting Islam.  Do not split the Malays even further. Today, you have Malays in support of PAS, PKR, Umno, stop splitting them for selfish gains,” said Irwan.

PKR vice president Tian Chua slammed Perkasa for racial hypocrisy and accused them of being the real traitors.

"Perkasa is not fighting for the rights of the Malays but Umno. If it is fighting for the Malays, then it should demand that Umno cleans up the electoral roll to prevent fraud and the voters' wishes from being thwarted. There is no excuse for such behavior, only one explanation - Perkasa is the real traitor of the Malays, the Muslims and all Malaysians as well. To sell out like this for political favor or largesse is the height of betrayal," said Tian.

Malaysia Chronicle