Kit Siang ‘shocked’ by emergency, military intervention talk

The military wants to take over the role of the police which should be handling the Bersih 4 rallies.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang has expressed shock that Armed Forces Chief Zulkifeli Mohd Zin raised the possibility of his men intervening in the Bersih 4 rallies this weekend in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching should Putrajaya declare a state of emergency. “It’s most shocking and irresponsible that Zulkifeli is talking about military intervention.”

“The military wants to take over the role of the police which should be handling the Bersih 4 rallies.”

The people are coming to Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching from various parts of the country in peace to democratically and constitutionally express their love, concern and patriotism for Malaysia, he added. “They want an end to the state of crisis in the country.”

“Why are those in authority actively trying to fan fears by irresponsible talk of declaration of emergency and military rule?” he demanded to know.

Lim, who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP, at the same time warned Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak to ensure that there was no jamming of phone signals. “He should ensure that telecommunication providers expand their capacity by at least twenty-fold in anticipation of at least half-a-million people armed with cell phones for the Bersih 4 rallies.”

He was commenting on Salleh pledging that Putrajaya will not jam telecommunication towers during the Bersih 4 rallies as that would otherwise block communication among participants.

“The people will hold him to his promise,” said Lim. “During the previous Bersih 3 rally, the public found their cell phone signals jammed.”

“That could only happen as a result of directives from the powers-that-be to the telecommunication providers (telcos).”

In the internet and information era, the people expect Salleh not only to ensure that cell phone signals during the Bersih 4 rallies are not jammed and rendered unserviceable, but for the telcos to greatly increase their capacities many fold, he reiterated. “There would be increased traffic with hundreds of thousands of people pouring into Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. The crowds in Kuala Lumpur alone are likely to be larger than that seen during Bersih 1, 2 and 3.”

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced on its Facebook page on Thursday that it was going to block websites that promote and spread information about the Bersih 4 rallies, “to discourage the notion that there’s nationwide support for the rallies”.

Besides Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, 50 cities worldwide will be holding rallies under Bersih Global.