No demos to oust PM since 1998, says Zahid

The 34-hour Bersih 4 rally at the end of August called for institutional reforms and urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 29, 2015.

There have been no demonstrations in the country in almost 20 years aimed at removing a sitting prime minister, said Home minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

This was despite the recent #Tangkap Najib and Bersih 4 rallies to pressure Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to quit over alleged political and financial scandals.

“According to police records, there are no demonstrations held in the country since 1998 which demanded specifically for the prime minister to quit,” he said in a written reply to Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (PAS-Bachok). 

Ahmad had wanted to know what the demonstrations which called for the removal of the prime minister since 1998, number of participants and police, locations involved and costs incurred. 

In 1998, at the height of the reformasi movement which took place after former prime minister Tun Dr 

Mahathir Mohamad sacked his then deputy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, thousands of Malaysians took to the street to demand the former’s resignation.

Dr Mahathir retired in October 2003 and was replaced by Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

This year, numerous rallies were held to pressure Abdullah’s successor, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, over his brainchild, state-owned investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal bank accounts.  

It included the #TangkapNajib gatherings as well as the 34-hour Bersih 4 rally at the end of August, which called for institutional reforms and urged Najib to step down.

- TMI