Maria Chin takes offence at the suggestion that marchers may be high on drugs.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih has accused Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor of slander for saying that marchers in this weekend’s rallies might include people under the influence of narcotic drugs.
Bersih leader Maria Chin Abdullah today challenged him to engage her group directly instead of slandering it.
According to news reports yesterday, Tengku Adnan compared the Bersih rallies to last month’s rioting at Low Yat Plaza. He said there was a possibility that protesters would be high on drugs, like the people involved in the brawls at Low Yat.
“Any democratic government and PM would have taken us on and had a dialogue going,” the Malay Mail Online quoted Chin as saying today.
“But they have disappointed us again by their slander and negativities over our constitutional right to expression and assembly. We must no longer endure such deteriorating governance, but fight it.”
Chin also responded to Tengku Adnan’s statement that the “silent majority” was bigger than the number of people who would take part in the rallies. She acknowledged that the marchers would not be representing the “whole country”, but said they would represent the “recognisable” portion of Malaysians who oppose the government.
“The demands of Bersih have struck a chord with those who want change from a failed political and ailing economic system,” she said. “Our demands, proposed plan for institutional reform and call for fresh elections are reasonable.”
Bersih expects to attract a quarter million people to the weekend rallies in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.
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