Activists set to spend 2nd night at Padang Merbok

The activists are set to spend another night at Padang Merbok but are likely to do so without any tents.

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KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has decided not to forcibly evict the activists occupying Padang Merbok for now following a negotiation with the organisers.

“Badrul Hisham told us that they will remove the tents on their own, and as they are doing so, we have decided to wait and see,” a DBKL official told FMT.

He added that DBKL would give the occupiers until later today to clear the tents.

Badrul Hisham Shaharin is the Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) chief, the main organiser of the Occupy Padang Merbok movement.

He told FMT that almost half of the erected tents have been removed so far as they continue to dismantle the rest slowly.

“This does not mean we are leaving Padang Merbok. We will continue to stay put here. We are just removing the tents.

“All 246 people registered to be with us will spend the night here today and tomorrow we will be marching towards Parliament,” he said.

Parliament’s first session after the 13th general election starts tomorrow and the activists want to express their disappointment with the conduct of the general election there.

It is uncertain how the DBKL will react to the activists continuing to stay put in the field despite removing their tents.

Two-hour deadline
Earlier today, DBKL had given the activists a two-hour deadline – until 12.20pm – to clear the field.

However the deadline passed with DBKL personnel not taking any action against the occupiers.

Presently there are 246 people camping in Padang Merbok.

“They have been here since yesterday. Public are still joining us,” said Badrul Hisham when contacted earlier.

“We are not taking any confrontation measures when we deal with them because our stand is for the EC members to quit,” he said.

They had set up camp yesterday after the Black 505 rally that saw some 30,000 people attending it despite hazy conditions.

The occupiers are demanding for the resignation of the Election Commission chairman Aziz Yusof and his committee members over the 13th general election results.

DBKL and the police had opposed the rally but ensured that it went smoothly.

The police also did not take action against the occupiers yesterday because DBKL had not filed a complaint yesterday.