The Perikatan Nasional-led Malaysia Day rally today saw over 1,000 supporters convene for over an hour on the streets near the Sogo shopping complex, Kuala Lumpur - a site popular for many past protests against former administrations and leaders.
Police estimate crowd numbers to be around 850 people, while organisers claimed a 10,000-strong crowd.
Riot police were not present in the streets this time but two rows of uniformed personnel stood in line, preventing the crowd from turning onto the road leading to Dang Wangi police headquarters.
For about an hour, speakers protested against the present administration led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Selangor PN secretary Dr Afif Bahardin, in his speech, mocked Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for labelling protest organisers as being "disrespectful" of Malaysia Day.
"You (Saifuddin) became minister not because you were elected by the people, you lost the election.
"You became a minister because of Anwar.
"He (Saifuddin) said we are disrespecting Sept 16, I want to say that once, on Sept 16, there was someone hunting for MPs to bring down the government," he told the crowd.
The former PKR Youth leader is believed to be referring to Anwar's move on Sept 16, 2008, where he had as then-opposition leader claimed to have majority support from 31 BN MPs to form a new government.
The gathering earlier started with afternoon prayers, held at Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru, where their initial numbers were estimated to be about half of the crowd.
Although the organisers branded the gathering as a Malaysia Day celebration, its main focus was to protest the granting of a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
PN activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin, popularly known as Chegubard, and Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz earlier addressed the initial crowd from a pick-up truck, informing them of plans to lodge a police report at the Dang Wangi station, asking for Zahid to be recharged.
Chegubard said the crowd was not asked to follow as it was not supposed to be a march, but they were "free to do so" if they wished to show support.
The moving crowd chanted “Dakwa Zahid” (charge Zahid) and “Reformati” (reformasi is dead).
As of 2pm, the crowd could be seen walking along with the truck under the watchful eyes of police personnel.
The old and young in the crowd, many wearing “Selamatkan Malaysia” headbands sold on the streets, continued their chants of “Tolak Zahid!”, “Dakwa Zahid!”, “Reformati!”, and “Beras dah mahal! (rice is expensive)”.
Many also carried the Jalur Gemilang.
As they marched, there was no resistance from traffic police and other uniformed personnel who instead were seen facilitating the crowd.
Leaders including Pejuang information chief Rafique Rashid Ali were heard crediting the police for their handling of the rally and allowing the crowd to gather.
The crowd dispersed peacefully at around 3.30pm. - Mkini
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