Pakatan fails to hold peaceful rallies as agreed, claims Zahid

Home Minister Dr Zahid Hamidi claimed that he had held secret discussions with several opposition leaders whereby the latter agreed to hold peaceful assemblies.

However, he said they "sang a different song" when they got back to their supporters.

"I welcome differences in opinions and agreed to discuss with them. They agreed to hold peaceful assemblies and give at least 10-day notice with the gatherings to be held in closed areas and without any provocation whatsoever," he told reporters after appearing in an interview on Bernama TV's Hello Malaysia programme at Wisma Bernama here last night.

The agreement was reached to avoid problems, he added. However, Zahid declined to name the opposition leaders concerned.

The opposition has organised numerous gatherings nationwide, purportedly to protest the 13th general election results, claiming that they should be in Putrajaya based on popular votes.

Ahmad Zahid said most of the gatherings were held without a police permit and were "provocative".

"When they were with me, they concurred with me (on the peaceful assembly), but when they are with their supporters, it is a different story," he added.

Pakatan Rakyat has held rallies in major cities across the country, all of which were peaceful and without any untoward incident.

Police just doing their job

Zahid said he respected PAS leaders for accepting the general election results.

He regarded the action of the opposition leaders not on the same page as the PAS leaders as they were willing to do anything to achieve their objective of conquering Putrajaya.

Zahid said they became desperados because they could not accept their defeat in the May 5 general election.

Actually, they were more disappointed in not realising their dream of taking over the federal government, compared with BN's disappointment in its inability to get a two-thirds majority, he added.

On the action by the police in detaining the two opposition figures and an social activist and confiscating editions of opposition party organs for breaching the Printing Presses and Publications Act, he said the police and agencies under his ministry were doing their job to enforce the laws.

He said they acted professionally without interference from him as the home minister.

"Is it wrong for the police to enforce existing laws and regulations?" he asked.

- Bernama