BN indirectly promoting Bersih rally, says Nizar

The former Perak menteri besar believes that more people will support the July 9 rally as a result of the harsh police action against the Bersih supporters and organisers.

IPOH: Perak Pakatan Rakyat claims that Barisan Nasional (BN) is indirectly promoting the Bersih 2.0 rally with its suppressive moves to stop the peaceful rally on July 9.

“BN is conducting an adverse publicity campaign on the Bersih 2 rally through the mainstream media. But it is adding more fuel to the call for clean and free elections and encouraging more Malaysians to participate in this peaceful march,” Perak Pakatan’s chief Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said.

“The high-handed police action against the Bersih organisers and supporters who wore yellow T-shirts is driving more angry Malaysians to lend support to this peaceful assembly,” Nizar said .

He said the BN government and police should allow the Bersih rally to proceed without hindrance, but they made the mistake of trying to suppress a people’s movement.

“The right of every Malaysian to participate in a peaceful assembly is enshrined in the Federal Constitution and no one can take this away. There is no need for a police permit,” Nizar, the former Pakatan Perak menteri besar, told FMT today.

He pointed out that the first Bersih rally in 2007 was peaceful but turned ugly when the police violently cracked down on the march.

He said the aggressive response eventually backfired on the BN when it lost its two-thirds majority in the 2008 historic general election.

Nizar hopes that the police will not make the same mistake again in the Bersih 2.0 rally, saying that if they do, it will cause greater negative consequences for the BN in the coming 13th general election.

He said that public disorder will only be caused by the Umno and Perkasa rallies, and not from the peaceful Bersih 2.0 march.

He also said that it was possible that the current spate of arrests in the run-up to the July 9 march will be the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

“These drastic police actions are making people jittery and angry. It will only fuel their hatred of the government,” said Nizar, who is the Bukit Gantang MP.

On police warning that the ISA might be used on leaders and organisers of Bersih 2.0, Nizar said: “It is will be the greatest mistake that the BN government can make as this will only unleash the fury of the people’s power.”