All eyes on Anwar to lift nation out from post GE13 quagmire: PR to hold June 15 rally at Padang Merbok

UPDATE 5 All eyes are on Malaysia's Opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim and his next moves to lift the country out of the quick sand it has fallen into after a controversial May 5 general election. Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat coalition formally announced today it will hold a much anticipated June 15 rally - a move that his supporters see as a moral victory in their battle to reclaim an electoral "victory that was stolen" from them by Prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno-BN government.

At a press conference held on Wednesday morning, Pakatan leaders confirmed they will hold the planned "mammoth gathering" at the Padang Merbok field in Kuala Lumpur at 2pm on June 15, promising to offer "maximum" co-operation to the police and extending the required 10 days notice to the authorities - the main stumbling block so far to peaceful assemblies in Malaysia and slammed by activists as a devious means by which the BN government was still suppressing the growing civil rights movement in the country.

"Of course, Umno-BN is terrified of Black 505. They are afraid of Anwar's drawing power. there is no other leader in the country now and in the entire history of the nation- Malay or non-Malay - who can mobilize this type of public support other than him. And when you have 100,000 people or even 50,000 people clamoring for Umno to 'tumbang" or be toppled, Najib to step down, surely you will be scared if you are from Umno-BN," PKR youth leader Zulkefly told Malaysia Chronicle.

"We have also been accused of instigating the people to call for Najib's resignation and to hate Umno but let me ask you back. Are Malaysians so stupid? Are we like the (proverbial) 10,000 flies that eat shit? Are Malaysians so silly as to be the 10,001 fly and follow suit? The fact is Malaysians have minds of their own and if they show they want to take part in Black 505 and you can see them really enjoying themselves calling for the resignations of the PM and EC chiefs, that means they mean it. That means they have a message they want to send. It is Najib and the EC who must face reality and resign instead of trying to pin the blame on the Opposition. Whatever it is, crackdowns for holding Black 505 are not the way to solve the issue, not now in Malaysia - the people will no longer accept such ham-fisted rule."

Although it remains to be seen if Home Minister Zahid Hamidi will keep his promise, Zahid had in an apparent breakthrough given the green light for the rally provided that Anwar abided by the conditions of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012. “If Anwar is planning to hold a rally within the premise of the APA (Malay acronym for the PPA), the police will allow it,” the minister had told reporters on Tuesday.

Anwar's ability to mobilize support: Are Malaysians so easily influenced?

The Black 505 rallies are the brainchild of Opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim, who has refused to concede defeat to Prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno-BN on the grounds that there was simply too much "evidence of massive widespread vote-rigging and cheating".

Two days after the May 5 ballot, Anwar called for a public show support for his bold decision and more than 150,000 Malaysians turned up at the Kelana Jaya stadium in Kuala Lumpur to clamor for Najib's immediate resignation along with those of the Election Commission chairman and deputy chairman. Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat coalition also wants re-election in 30 seats they claim suffered the worst fraud and irregularities.

Since then, Black 505 rallies staged across the country have been a tremendous success and the Umno-BN has rushed to tarnish its image, ordering its newspapers and news portals to belittle and even 'black out' the peaceful gatherings from their coverage.

But more than half a million Malaysians have attended the 10 rallies staged so far in Selangor, Penang, Ipoh, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Johor Bahru, Kelantan and Terengganu. And public appetite for the rallies remain unassuaged.

"The time when the BN decides on its own is over. We can discuss terms of reference for the appointment of a new EC, but (there will be) no compromise unless all members resign immediately," PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli told a press conference on Wednesday.

"There have been many young people who come in a respectful and orderly manner, and this is encouraging as it shows that the nation is maturing fast," said Johari Abdul, the PKR MP for Sungai Petani and a key planner behind the rallies.

More than before, the game now belongs to Anwar, Pakatan

However, political observers warn that it was not in Najib and Umno's interest to apply the right solutions to Anwar's demands or to resolve the people's dissatisfaction over the May 5 election.

To do so would entail real reforms including re-elections in 30 dubious seats, which Umno-BN might be hard pressed to win again.

"At the end of the day, it is Najib who has to shoulder the blame for taking the nation into quick-sand it cannot get out of. He was warned to clean up the electoral system and that Malaysians would not tolerate dirty polls. But he ignored the warnings, even with the Bersih 2 and 3 rallies, he just could not give up power," Eddie Wong, a PKR watcher, told Malaysia Chronicle.

"There is no point hoping for any real direction to come from him that can lift Malaysia out of its current quagmire. It is beyond his capability. The game now belongs to Anwar and Pakatan. Even if they are jailed, the nation won't be united or be ready to settle down with Umno-BN anymore. Those days are simply gone. So all eyes will be on how Anwar strategizes his next moves. The people especially the young are on his side, they will listen to him. That is his trump card. And this is something that the ultimate power brokers in Umno like Mahathir Mohamad and Daim Zainduddin should take heed of and accept as the new political reality in Malaysia. They must let go and accept the wishes of the majority in the country."

Illogical responses from the Umno-BN

In the May 5 election, Najib's BN government won 133 of the federal Parliament's 222 seats and the Pakatan 89. Very oddly, it was the Pakatan which won 51% of the total votes cast, bolstering their calls for a revamp and clean-up of the electoral system which has undeniably been twisted by decades of gerrymandering and dubious rules that gave the EC perhaps too much discretionary powers.

So far, at least six alleged organizers of the “Blackout 505” rallies have been charged with violating the PAA 2012 for failing to give police the required 10-day advance notification. On May 22, police also arrested 18 peaceful protesters at a candlelight vigil outside the Jinjang police station in Kuala Lumpur. And the Immigration authorities just days ago warned it might bar overseas Malaysians from returning if it found they had taken part in "anti-government" activities that tarnished the image of the Umno-BN abroad.

Indeed, such statements of dubious logic by prominent public officials have called into question the Najib government’s commitment to protect the right to peaceful assembly.

Not only has  Zahid Hamidi told the media that people had to stop the post-election gatherings, and “if they still want to continue, then they will have to pay the price” but Kuala Lumpur police chief Mohmad Salleh also raised eyebrows when he said the police would not tolerate the candlelight vigil, “as it will only cause agitation among the public.”

“Prime Minister Najib should understand that addressing the issues surrounding the May elections means listening to his opponents – not prosecuting them for asserting the right to have their voices heard,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of the Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

International attention and flak

The Umno-BN's counter-productive and rather ill-thought out crackdown has also drawn international attention to the social awakening in Malaysia and its controversial general election. The Bangladesh High Commissioner is the latest to join the fray, with a denial that its nationals had been paid by the BN to act as 'phantom voters' or were involved in a votes-for-citizenship scam. The Pakatan has invited the Bangladesh High Comm to join the public inquiries in Malaysia to help uncover "the truth". As for the United States, the super power has already issued a statement urging the Najib administration to investigate the allegations of fraud.

“Prosecuting activists for organizing peaceful protests makes a mockery of the prime minister’s promises to establish a rights-respecting government in Malaysia,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should drop the charges against the six activists and publicly pledge to cease bringing cases against organizers of peaceful protests,” said HRW's Robertson.

"The 10-day notice provision under the Peaceful Assembly Act is contrary to international human rights standards and should be amended along with other problematic parts of the law to protect public assembly and free expression. The United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of assembly and of association, Maina Kai, reported to the UN Human Rights Council in April 2013 that 'peaceful protests should not be viewed as a threat' by governments. He flagged lengthy notification periods and recommended a maximum notice requirement of 48 hours."

Malaysia Chronicle