'I regret not being with them'

In an interview with FMT RAW, S Ambiga talks about her personal experience on the day of the rally and Bersih's plans for the future.

PETALING JAYA: Her plan to march to Stadium Merdeka failed to materialise when the police arrested her. But this did not stop tens of thousands from taking to the streets, battling tear gas and water cannons, to call for electoral reforms.

While the city was enveloped in chaos, S Ambiga was detained in isolation at a police station and by the time she was released, the clouds of tear gas had dissipated. The Bersih 2.0 chairperson had missed the action.

But when Ambiga watched the video recordings of what transpired on July 9, it moved her to tears.

“My regret was that I was not with the rakyat. When I watched what happened it brought tears to my eyes because I couldn’t believe what had unfolded,” recalled the former Bar Council president in an interview on FMT RAW this afternoon.

Sporting a yellow shawl, the official colour of Bersih 2.0, Ambiga said she was never afraid despite the possibility of arrest and even in the face of death threats, but felt a chill run down her spine when the police started firing tear gas into an enclosed area.

“We made our way down to the underpass at KL Sentral. Then we saw the FRU ahead of us; after a short period of time, they started firing tear gas at us. I remember turning around trying to get out at the other end. A friend was helping me; by that time they had fired 10 to 12 rounds in an enclosed space. It was highly irregular, if not criminal and illegal.

“I couldn’t breathe. It was quite worrying. Because I had help, I was pulled out. That was the only point of time I was afraid because I never experienced anything like that. We were treated like animals.

“What does it mean when you fire at people from both directions? That was a horrifying experience. The other times I felt elation, I have to say. Of course there is trepidation, you hope everything turns out well for everybody. You know there are so many people going out peacefully and you pray that they are safe,” she said.

PSM detainees – top priority

Expressing surprise over the large turnout for the Bersih 2.0 rally, Ambiga added: “That is wonderful, you can’t keep Malaysians away from Kuala Lumpur. I’m sorry, but KL belongs to the rakyat. Which they claimed that day.”

While the rally had been touted as a victory for Bersih 2.0, the coalition’s chairperson said there was still “a lot more work to do”. And topping the list were:
The immediate release of the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) detained under Emergency Ordinance; and

To submit a report of the various allegations of police brutality to Suhakam to launch an investigation.
“These are our first two priorities. It is wholly unacceptable for any Malaysian to be detained for just having a pamphlet, for goodness sake. We are very unhappy by the way they are being treated.

“What is this… in this day and age?” she said in referrence to the six, which included Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar.

“If they (the government) release them today, now, (right) now… then that’s a positive response. Malaysia is on the Human Rights Council. We should expect higher standards, they are endangering their seat on the council by what they are doing now.

“We think that the police brutality on July 9 must be investigated. That’s why we’re going to Suhakam with a report and asking Suhakam to look into it,” Ambiga added during the half-hour online broadcast.

Commenting on the death of protester Baharudin Ahmad due to heart failure when fleeing from the FRU, she said it was “unnecessary and needless”.

“We consider him a hero as he really died for the cause,” she added.
Ambiga also said that Bersih would be handing its memorandum to the King and push for a Royal Commission of Inquiry so that experts could look at the current electoral system and give recommendations.

“Otherwise, we are going to have the Election Commission (EC) saying one thing and Bersih saying another, and it’s going to go back-and-forth. The best is to get these experts to come up with something,” she added.

‘Not hijacked by Pakatan’

Ambiga also noted that public confidence in the EC had eroded because it sided with the government and when it asked if Bersih was aligned to Pakatan Rakyat.

“They are supposed to be above parties and politics. They should be talking to everybody because under the Federal Constitution, the King is supposed to appoint commissioners who enjoy public confidence. I can guarantee that with what they are doing now, it has suffered,” she said.

She said that education and voter registration were also critical and that Bersih was planning a series of awareness talks and seminars to explain to the people what its eight demands were.

Bersih would also continue to compile evidence of electoral fraud and put it up on its website. “I am not sure if we do that, the EC will respond. That’s why we prefer a televised debate with them,” said Ambiga.

She also refuted allegations that the opposition had hijacked Bersih 2.0, saying the people who turned up for the rally were ordinary Malaysians.

“It speaks for itself, it is ordinary Malaysians who want electoral reforms. Pakatan Rakyat perhaps is sometimes too enthusiastic but previously when (Opposition Leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) said he could call it (the rally) off, I told him politely no, it’s not Anwar’s call. We (Bersih) made the calls all the way,” she added.

Ambiga stressed that Bersih was a civil society movement and the so-called Pakatan link should not be blown out proportion.

‘More significant than March 8′

Asked how the rally could affect foreign investors, Ambiga said the people were now waiting for a positive reply from the government and a “mature response” was what investors would be looking for.
Asked if Bersih had given the government any deadline before it planned its next course of action, she said there was no specific date.

“But our final deadline will be the 13th general election,” she said, adding that while Bersih 2.0 had not planned any new rallies anytime soon, others might take the initiative to do so.

“Bersih has moved far beyond the steering committee. It’s no longer about me or anybody else. The movement is now identified by its multiracial, multiregional, multicultural, multi-everything Malaysia,” she said.

“Watch this space, because honestly, the rakyat has taken over this movement,” she said.

Meanwhile, Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Wong Chin Huat, who also attended the interview, said that the rally did not paint a negative picture of Malaysia.

“Bersih showed that Malaysians are peaceful, and there is no doubt that Malaysians love each other, and despite all the provocation, nothing happened on that day, that’s actually very assuring,” said the academic whose tears were still flowing over the personal accounts of those who participated in the rally.

Summing up what had happened on Saturday, Wong, decked in all black and a yellow Bersih tie, remarked: “It was more significant than March 8 (the last general election).”