'I was only 'motivating' Bersih 3.0 protesters'

A month after the Bersih 3.0 rally for clean and fair elections, the dust has yet to settle - especially so for PKR deputy president Azmin Ali. 

Among the first to get caught under the post-rally glare, calls for Azmin’s head were made as early as April 29 - the morning after the rally - after he was accused of riling up protesters and causing the chaos.

Speaking toMalaysiakini in an interview last week, the Gombak MP, who faced calls for his resignation following the rally, said he had no intention of instigating the Dataran Merdeka barricade breach. 

Fresh from claiming trial for the same charge, along with party de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and Negri Sembilan PKR leader Badrul Hisham Shaharin, Azmin said he was merely “motivating” the masses. 

“Of course at the time, political leaders have to motivate our members and the rakyat to stand up and defend their rights as Malaysians... to demand fair and free elections. Is that a crime?” he asked. 

Seemingly annoyed that the Dataran breach had shifted focus from “more serious crimes” like alleged polls rigging, Azmin added that he had actually spoken upon request by a police officer. 

‘Cop told me to address crowd’

In fact, he said, he was personally asked by a “senior police officer” to calm the crowd. 

“Certainly the crowd will listen to (political) leaders rather than the authorities. One of the senior police officer in charge at the barricade appealed to me to speak to the crowd and ask them to calm (down), and that’s what I did.

“We (politicians) have a role there, to make sure the demonstration is peaceful...” he said, brushing off claims that the opposition coalition tried to hijack the rally. 

He insisted that organising NGO coalition Bersih’s intentions were always to gather at the Dataran and that he was following those instructions, despite the NGO instructing against any barricade breach. 

“There was no instruction to breach the barricade but the instruction was to assemble in Dataran from 2 to 4pm and people travelled from all over with (that) understanding,” he said.

But while he had stepped up to provide leadership prior to the breach, he admitted that this went up in the air after tear gas was fired. 

“Everybody was trying to protect (them)selves. I was somewhere around there. I couldn’t remember where. I was (shot with tear gas) twice, it came close to me. So painful. I was breathless.

“I was trying to save myself. I walked towards Jalan Tun Perak and all the way to Jalan Sultan Ismail. I was not at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. Then I went home.”

‘Bersih won’

Despite the resulting smear campaign against Bersih, Azmin believes that more good had come out of the rally - like the withdrawal of the Election Offences Amendment Bill. 

A member of the parliamentary select committee on electoral reform, Azmin said the fact that PSC was kept in the dark over an amendment to the Bill raises questions over the Election Commission’s intentions. 

He said that instead of tabling a Bill that deals with what was discussed by the PSC, the Election Commission tabled one which tried to curb monitoring by political parties.

“This implies a tendency to cheat... But thank God, after Bersih 3.0, the government retracted the Bill, and no amendments were made. It shows Bersih 3.0 had a positive impact..,” he said. 

But wouldn't the images of protesters attacking a police patrol car aired on state-owned and BN-linked media on a daily basis tarnish the movement’s image in the eyes of the rakyat?

“The media and TV are Umno-owned so we cannot expect it to give a fair description of what happened. Not only do they restrict space (for the opposition) but they lie to the rakyat. 

“Three houndred thousand people were there. They will go back to their kampungs, to their home states and speak of what happened. They are the true spokespersons.”