Illegal rally an undemocratic act, says Mahathir

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad condemned the illegal rally held during the New Year’s Eve celebration last night, describing the act as undemocratic.

He said the group who attended the rally deliberately wanted to create a problem to the majority of the people who were not involved.

“As a democratic country, the minority, too, has rights. But they don’t have the right to spoil the life of the majority who wants to celebrate the New Year celebration, they can’t celebrate New Year, what democracy is that?” he told reporters when met at the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) New Year open house at the Merdeka Hall, Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur today.

Last night, thousands of protesters who joined the rally disrupted the New Year’s Eve celebration at the Dataran Merdeka, resulting in the celebration  being called off earlier.

Dr Mahathir said the protesters had deprived the majority of their human rights by doing such acts at the wrong time and place.

“You want to do it, do it somewhere else, but don’t go and disturb other people... the minority has rights but don’t do it at the expense of the majority,” he said.

Meanwhile, asked on the 11 steps taken by the government to reduce the expenses of public service, Dr Mahathir said he was happy that the steps were taken.

- Bernama