PKR: Black 505 rally at Padang Merbok

With four days to go before the Black 505 rally in Padang Merbok, PKR is going ahead and making preparations for the event on Saturday.

PETALING JAYA: PKR has started making preparations to use Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur as the venue for the Black 505 rally on Saturday.

PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli told FMT today that they had set up a technical team headed by the rally chief organiser Johari Abdul and PAS deputy president Mohd Sabu.

Asked what if the field is fenced up later this week, he said they would still congregate at Padang Merbok.

“Our technical team will make contingency plans, including crowd control for the day,” he said.

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has reject PKR’s application to use the venue last week saying that the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) need to use it on Saturday to prepare for a charity run the next day, preserve the landscape surrounding Padang Merbok and to avoid traffic congestion.

Both the parties met last Friday but failed to come to an agreement, with PKR saying they would consult the NGOs involved before making the final decision.

Rafizi said today the rally slated for noon on Saturday would not coincide with the scheduled preparations of OCM which would only begin after 6pm.

“As far as we are told by the DBKL, OCM can only put up things after 6pm. That’s no such thing that our rally will interfere with OCM’s preparations.

“Besides, they will not even use the field while the run will begin and end at Dataran Merdeka,” he said.

He also said NGO leaders such as Anything But Umno’s Haris Ibrahim and Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia’s Badrul Hisham Shaharin had agreed to the arrangements.

Pakatan Rakyat has been organising a string of Black 505 rallies nationwide in protest of the alleged frauds in the recent 13th General Election.