Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar hit out at deputy IGP Khalid Abu Bakar for saying that the Bersih electoral reform rally, if allowed to proceed unimpeded, will lead to the same rioting as now taking place on London streets.
“That statement only serves to showcase his ignorance,” Nurul Izzah (left) told reporters when met outside the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters today.
In a posting on his Facebook page last night, Khalid Abu Bakar had said the ongoing riots in London and other major cities in Britain are evidence of the “nightmares” that can be prevented by avoiding street protests.
“Alhamdullilah, we are able to avoid these scary and tragic scenes from erupting here in our beloved country.
“Street protest should always be avoided as we will never know what it can turn into. Peace loving Malaysian will understand. The right to assemble must always be balanced with public order,” read his post.
Nurul Izzah added that she cannot accept such statements from the senior police officer and asked him to “check his facts first before opening his mouth next time”.
She pointed out that the root cause of the London riots was discontent because of government budget cuts and high unemployment in the riot hit areas.
This, she claimed, is different from the mainly middle class Bersih supporters who were not as inclined to such excesses.
'Riots may be our future if we fail to reform'
However, the Lembah Pantai MP said one similarity between the situation in UK and Malaysia is the failure to reform an economic system that promotes the wealth gap between the rich and the poor.
While Malaysia is not as worse off as the UK, she warned “that this is our future if we fail to reform”.
Police had declared the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally illegal and outlawed the electoral reform movement itself and cracked down hard on anyone even suspected of supporting or wanting to attend the rally.
Police claimed it was only keeping public order and did so to prevent chaos, though this was disputed by Bersih organisers who had pledged a peaceful march.
There was no recorded incident of looting or widespread property damage during the rally, with most damage seemingly resulting from tear gas and chemical laced water used by police.
source:malaysiakini
Izzah: Kenyataan Khalid serlahkan kejahilannya
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