Tiny Perlis gears up for Pakatan Rakyat's Black 505 rally: Anwar, PR bigwigs on the way!

Perlis folk are gearing up for the Pakatan Rakyat's Black 505 rally tonight and although the scale of attendance may not be as huge as the crowds it has previously drawn to earlier venues in other, public spirit and sympathy appears very much to be still with Anwar Ibrahim and his Opposition front.

"I can't be sure but if KL is a gauge, it should be good. We hope for the best," said a stallholder who had by 2.30pm already set up his apparatus and hung out the trademark Black 505 t-shirts for sale.

Anwar on the way

In Kuala Lumpur, PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli has agreed to defer the Padang Merbok rally from June 15 to June 22 after Umno-linked parties and the Kuala Lumpur Town Council insisted that the field had already been rented this coming Saturday.

But in Perlis, it is all systems go.

"Anwar is on his way. We have already given sufficient notice and we are all very excited. This will be the first time, Black 505 will take place in Perlis. We chose Kangar because it is the most central location. Later on, we may move into the more remote areas so that the village people don't have to travel so far," one of the Perlis co-ordinators told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Basically, Perlis people all want to experience for themselves what is this Black 505 all about. They have heard of it, they want to taste it for themselves. I know Umno is against Black 505 and has sent a message to its supporters not to attend. We hope they don't cause trouble and send agent provocateurs to start fist fights here. They should be mature enough to accept that Malaysians even in the kampongs (villages) won't be so stupid and easily influenced. If they shout 'tumbang' or topple Umno, 'undur' Najib, 'undur' SPRM (resign Prime Minister Najib Razak, resign Election Commission), it is because they share this feeling. Nobody can force anyone to shout along with us. So grow up and stop the reverse-psy war. You only make the people scorn you more."

The rally to be held behind the Public Bank at Jalan Raja Syed Alwi is due to start around 9pm.

Major embarrassment for Najib, Umno-BN

Kangar acting police chief Ismail Che Isa had a day ago told Bernama that the rally was illegal. Che Isa claimed the organizers had not furnished the required 10-days notice allegedly required under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, but Pakatan Rakyat co-ordinations have denied this as an "outright lie". They insisted they had already given notice 12 days ago.

Be that as it may, Perlis Black 505 is going ahead as scheduled and there is no turning given the scores of stalls that are already in the area, preparing to arrange their wares ranging from scarves, t-shirts, hats, sunglasses, food, drinks and so forth.

The Perlis rally will also mark the first in the Pakatan's second round of Black 505 assemblies to protest electoral fraud and a "stolen victory" in the just-concluded May 5 general election.

Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat have refused to concede defeat, launching the first rally on May 7 in Kelana Jaya, Selangor and drawing a huge 150,000 crowd. Anwar has said the Pakatan would only stop the rallies if the Election Commission chairman and deputy chairman resign and re-elections are held in about 30-odd seats where electoral fraud has been strongly detected.

The Black 505 rallies have proven to be an enormous embarrassment to the Najib administration, and he is trying hard to scuttle his rivals' momentum by cracking down on several Pakatan leaders including PKR's Nik Nazmi and Badrul Hisham Shaharin aka Chegubard. A student leader, Adma Adli, was even hauled up for a speech he made in the Ipoh Black 505 rally, where he had called for Umno to be toppled.

Impoverished and backward like Sabah and Sarawak

Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia and one of the poorest despite its natural resources. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border and Kedah on the south.

Based on official 2010 statistics, Perlis only has a population of 227,025. Even with rolling green paddy fields that stretch for as far as the eye can see, rich fishing waters and possible oil and gas resources, the state is backward by at least 20 years in its economic and infrastructure development.

This economic under-development has been a source of much unhappiness among the Perlis folk and Najib's Umno-BN coalition blamed for bypassing the state, which like Sabah and Sarawak, remain dilapidated and impoverished despite the economic booms enjoyed by the rest of the nation.

MORE TO COME

Malaysia Chronicle