Perkasa to counter Bersih rally

Perkasa and Konsensus Bebas slam the July 9 Bersih 2.0 demonstrations, calling it a waste of time.

KUALA LUMPUR: Perkasa has threatened to counter the July 9 Bersih 2.0 demonstration with a protest of its own.

Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali promised the event’s organisers – Bersih and PAS – that he would “fight to the end” if people were to mass on the streets on July 9.

“If they go ahead with this demonstration, Perkasa has made a decision, and as its president, I will fight to the end.

That means on that day, there will be a confrontation,” he said.

“I don’t know how many they will gather, but Perkasa also has many members, and other NGO are coming, so we’ll be there,” added the Pasir Mas MP.

Ibrahim said that large-scale demonstrations such as Bersih’s would cause widespread chaos, and cited the unrest in the Middle East as an example.

“I cannot imagine that if there is a big crowd, certain element will come in, throwing the stone, burn the car, and with injuries like what is happening in Tunisia,” he said.

The July 9 “Walk for Democracy” Kuala Lumpur protest will be attended by several civil societies, including a few opposition parties.

Bersih and its coalition partners have six demands in mind, including an end to the misuse of government machinery and funds during elections.

With an expected attendance of more than 100,000, the march is expected to the biggest of its kind since the group’s 2007 demonstrations.

Protestor number predictions, however, did not faze the Malay rights supremacist, who said that most Malaysians would not buy into Bersih’s demands.

“Malaysia has 27 million people. Let’s say that Bersih wants to bring 300,000, so 27 million minus 300,000, we will have 26 million.

So you don’t worry about the figures,” he said.
Ibrahim also added that Perkasa will hold a roundtable discussion with at least 30 other Malay-based NGOs on Bersih’s planned demonstrations tomorrow.

‘No need for Bersih to make demands’

Independent MP Zahrain Mohamed Hashim said that Konsensus Bebas brought an emergency motion before House Speaker Pandikar Amin on the upcoming July 9 protests at 10am today.

He said that the motion was to urge the authorities to take necessary action against the gathering on July 9 and that the Speaker has not yet made a decision on the motion.

“We have no problem if they (want to) hand over a memorandum, but we don’t want an NGO (like Bersih) to be hijacked by PAS.”

Zahrain also rubbished claims that taking to the streets was an act of democracy.

“Democracy to whom?” he scoffed at reporters. “To me, this is not democracy. This is more like ‘cari pasal’,” Zahrain said.

Independent MP Zulkifli Noordin said that there was no need for Bersih to make demands, and defended the government and Election Commission over election irregularities.

“They (Pakatan Rakyat) can get five states, and they can run campaigns from morning to night. I don’t see the justification (for the protests),” the firebrand MP said.

The former PKR MP asked what Bersih’s real motive was for the protests, and accused them and its coalition partners of having “evil  intentions”.