Police Refuse Permit To Bersih, But Rally Is Still ON

Written by  Wong Choon Mei

Slightly red-faced Bersih officials withdrew an earlier announcement that police had aproved their application to rally at the Stadium Merdeka, but vowed the rally would still go on - come what may.

They have also made an immediate appeal against the harsh decision and are awaiting the new result.

"GREAT NEWS! Dang Wangi police station called Bersih, asked them to pick up permit for rally in Stadium MERDEKA! Now falls to PM & Stadium Management to make appropriate arrangements," Bersih had said on its Twitter site and also it official Facebook page.

Bad Faith

But it transpired that the organisers had either misunderstood situation or was being 'played the fool' with by the police. Instead of the permit they had expected, they were given a letter of rejection of their application for a permit by the police.

This is not the first time that Bersih committee has found itself being played out by groups including Prime Minister Razak, who think nothing of abandoning the rules of the game mid-way. In fact, many critics have suggested that it appears to be a point of honour amongst many in the BN government, especially within lead party UMNO, that whomsoever "tricks, cheats and lies the best" is the most suited for high office.

A day ago, Bersih chief Ambiga Sreenevasan had led a small delegation and spent more than an hour with Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar urging his help in securing the Stadium Merdeka premises for its free and fair elections rally. But as Ismail spoke to Ambiga, his men were busy applying for a Restriction Order from the courts to ban her group from enetering Kuala Lumpur's key central business district on Saturday.

Prime Minister Najib Razak also publicly reneged on his word to the coalition of 62 NGOs, refusing to release detainees or uplift a ban on their movement or even to agree to allow them to use the historical Stadium Merdeka even though he had promised to do so.

Appeal

Nonetheless, the latest incident is unlikly to reduce Malaysians' support for the Bersih rally. While their approach has been naive, no one can say Ambiga and team have not tried their best to secure a noble cause for their countrymen.

Bersih is strongly backed by the Pakatan Rakyat leaders, many of whom had organised the 2007 Bersih rally. While Pakatan fully supports Bersih, it has to keep at arms-length its direct involvement as it now the main opposition coaltion in the country. It also does not want the rally to be tarred as being an opposition march. As such, all the Pakatan leaders who participated in the Bersih committee stepped aside sometime in mid-June, leaving Ambiga and her team of activists to directly negotiate in the last few rounds.

"We are back to square one, police still taking hardline stance, we have no choice to continue with our gathering and the march! That doesn't change. Bersih is now submitting the appeal letter to the police headquarters with complete Exco list. Let's see what game the authorities are playing," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

According to Bersih, the appeal was to show that Bersih genuinely wanted and tried its very best to co-operate with the authorities who have deliberatly shut their door on the movement.

Although invited to take part in the non-partisan march. Najib and his BN leaders have refused, prompting speculation that they feared any cleanup of the existing electoral system could lead to a heavy loss. The Pakatan had secured 47 per cent of the populated in the 2008 general election, but won only 5 out of 13 states due a combination of factors including gross gerrymandering and vote-buying.

"PM Najib should instruct police to grant permit in accordance with his assurance that Bersih can pick the stadium," PKR MP for Subang Sivaras Rasiah said on Twitter.

"Bersih asked to pick up permit at DangWangi. When there, police handed a rejection of permit letter. Nvrmind- c u at StadMerdeka!" Bukit Lanjan MP Elizabeth Wong said on Twitter.

- Malaysia Chronicle

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