"(The question on) when the election is to be held is not determined by Bersih (organisers of the illegal assembly)," he said at a press conference at the conclusion of his working visit to the southern-most town in Sabah, today.
The Prime Minister said the assembly was actually politically motivated and the demand could be resolved without dragging the people to join street demonstrations that could jeopardise public peace.
He said the demand submitted should have been presented to the Election Commission (EC) for consideration.
The organisers of the July 9 illegal assembly, among other things, listed demands to clean the electoral roll, reform postal voting, the use of permanent ink and strengthen the public institution.
He said efforts to introduce the biometric system were also being made to refute allegations on the existence of phantom voters while the people must be given full explanation on the process of postal voting which was actually being observed by representatives from the opposition parties as well.
Najib described the plan to hold the illegal assembly as a move to divert the attention of the people, especially the momentum of public support for transformations carried out by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
"They see that within the past one or two days the momentum (of support) for the Barisan Nasional has been increasing. They want to make it appear that (as though) support for the Barisan Nasional is declining by accusing that we are a cruel government and ruling with an iron fist," he said.
He also questioned the attitude of the group organising the illegal assembly who kept quiet when the opposition won in several by-elections and captured four states in the 12th general election earlier.
He said the government had been given the mandate to ensure that security and peace in the country were maintained and to take necessary action to prevent any activities that could lead to chaos.
Najib said the act of staging street demonstrations was a mob psychology aimed at encouraging the demonstrators to act violently and should not be allowed to take place in this country.
"This matter cannot be taken lightly because if it is allowed, it will be difficult to control the violence which will affect the people," he said, adding that the decision whether to enforce emergency law to prevent such an incident was at the discretion of the police.
He said any action taken against the group would give priority to public order and the interest of the people.
On his meeting with the Sabah Barisan Nasional leaders yesterday, Najib said they were advised to continue efforts that could further strengthen Barisan Nasional in the state.
They were also asked to be close to the public all the time so that whatever decision made would be in the best interest of the people, he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment