5,000 march to Istana over FGV listing

Over 5,000 protesters at the Himpunan Oren have begun their march in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon to hand over a memorandum to the agong on Felda Global Ventures Holdings’ (FGV) controversial listing.

Kicking off at 2.20pm at the Federal Territory Mosque, the marchers chanted slogans such as “Fire (Felda chief) Isa Samad”, “Free the settlers” and “Down with Prime Minister Najib Razak”.

Leading the march was PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, its information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, vice-president Salahuddin Ayub and Persatuan Anak Peneroka Felda (Anak) president Mazlan Aliman.

The protesters, dressed in orange, were closely controlled by PAS’ Unit Amal personnel, who formed a human chain to protect them as they marched towards their destination Istana Negara.

The march was however stopped by a police barricade at the junction of Jalan Dutamas 1 and Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, roughly 600 metres from the Istana.

Leaders of the rally awaited a vehicle to pick up eight of their representatives to deliver the memorandum to the agong.

The eight were Mohd Sabu, Mazlan, Tuan Ibrahim, Anak legal adviser Harris Abdullah and economic adviser Rosli Yaakop, Felda representatives Siti Halijah and R Thangam as well as Umno veteran Tamrin Ghafar.

Fight till FGV delisted

While waiting for the pickup, the leaders took turns addressing the rally.

Thangam got the crowd cheering with his speech when he said former prime minister and Felda founder Abdul Razak Hussein must be crying in his grave today over what has happened to Felda.

"This shows how useless (Prime Minister) Najib Abdul Razak is," he said.

Salahuddin in his turn warned the Najib government to listen to the Felda settlers or risk losing their support in the coming general election.

"They are ready to vote out those who threaten their lands," he said.

Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, said the agong can invoke his power as enshrined in the Article 153 of federal constitution, to intervene in the FGV listing.

He continued that the said article guarantees special privileges of the Malays, one such privilege being Felda whose settlers are 90 percent Malay.

Also addressing the crowd was Mazlan, who vowed to continue the struggle until FGV is delisted.

"Somebody asked me, FGV is already listed, what further do I want?

"I replied, we will not give up and will continue to go against FGV until it is delisted," he said.

Agong urged to scrap listing

Mazlan (below) also announced that eight Felda settlers will file a RM80 million defamation suit against Najib for calling them "haram jadah" (illegitimate children)  in the latter’s recent speech.

At 3pm police escorted the eight representatives to the new Istana in a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Half-an-hour later, they submitted the memorandum to the palace representative, Khairi Abd Rahman.

The memorandum details various issues with the listing, among others, how it deprives Felda settlers of the ownership of land and assets, the negative impact of the 99-year land lease to FGV, the questionable credibility of Felda Holdings chairperson Mohd Isa Samad; and the settlers’ loss of income.

They urged the ruler to, among others, order for the listing to be scrapped and to distribute the Felda reserve land to the second generation of settlers.

Speaking to reporters after returning to gathering at the barricades, Mazlan said Anak will also take  legal action against the Securities Commission as well.

"We will study the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the Securities Commission over the listing  approval to FGV," he said.

Meanwhile, Sentul police chief  Zakaria Pagan in commenting on the rally said the police will consider taking action against those who brought children along to the rally, as this had violated the Peaceful Assembly Act.

He also praised the police on duty for making sure the crowd was orderly.

After the memorandum was delivered and at the end of the speeches, the crowd dispersed at 4pm.