DBKL field rejection due to 'political pressure'

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) decision to disallow Pakatan Rakyat’s use of Padang Merbok for its 'Black 505' rally has nothing to do with the field already being booked, but rather to “political pressure” by BN.

Rafizi (left) said this was proven as it was discovered that the Malaysian Olympic Council (MOC) will not be holding its event at Padang Merbok at all, but rather at Dataran Merdeka.

This contradicts the claim made by Mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib yesterday that one of the reasons DBKL rejected Pakatan’s application for use of the field on June 22 was because the MOC would be making "logistics preparations" there that day, for an event to be held the next day.

Ahmad Phesal had said that the council had booked the venue last year, but did not name the nature of the event that will be held.

However, it is widely known among the Klang Valley's running community that the 10th McDonald's Olympic Day Run - an event which involves the MOC - will be held on June 23.

Meeting mayor on June 14

In a press release today, Rafizi said that he made the discovery upon checking the MOC calender on its official website, which he then verified via its Facebook page as well as the website of a participating organisation.

“I regret DBKL’s actions in not providing a clear answer as to the use of Padang Merbok on June 23, 2013, just because it is forced to bow to political pressure by Umno/BN,” the PKR director of strategy said.

Rafizi said he had checked the marathon route and found that the start and end point was Dataran Merdeka and not Padang Merbok.

In view of this, Rafizi said he and his Pakatan colleagues will be holding another round of discussions with the mayor on June 14.

"However, we will not back down from our decision to hold the event at Padang Merbok on June 22, especially since it is proven  that no one else is using the field that weekend," he said.

Won't be bound by stadiums

Rafizi also criticised Ahmad Phesal for echoing BN leaders suggesting that Pakatan hold rallies in an enclosed spaces such as a stadium, which he argued was not in the spirit of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

"To apply the BN leader's position, thus all functions cannot be held in open areas and the relevant law should be renamed the Peaceful Assembly in Stadiums Only Act," he said.

He added that Ahmad Phesal's claim that the rally would cause traffic jams were also unacceptable because a marathon event would involve road closures as well.

"If they can close off several roads to allow the race to take place, I'm sure the authorities can do the same for the rally," he said.