06 April 2012

Bersih 3 : Nazri is 'ignorant and arrogant'...

NONEA former federal minister today slammed de facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz over his response to the planned Bersih 3.0, calling it indicative of the ignorance and arrogance of the Barisan Nasional.
  
“Nazri’s statement that the planned Bersih rally is illegal, and that the selected venue is not gazetted as a permissible place for public gathering is another example of the BN’s failure to deal with problems in a sensible way.

“It smacks of the same ignorance and arrogance of not wanting to do the right thing,” said Zaid Ibrahim (
left), who is also Kita president.

Zaid also refuted Nazri’s claim that Dataran Merdeka is not a place where public assemblies can be held.

 
"The venue is not one that is expressly excluded under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2011, so the minister and the police should just cooperate and allow the gathering at Dataran Merdeka or anywhere else to take place without much fuss," reasoned the former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
          
Zaid added that while he will not comment for now on the merits of Pakatan Rakyat expressing support for the planned gathering, he can see how Pakatan's action can help build momentum for their upcoming general election campaign.


However, he said Pakatan’s involvement in Bersih 3.0 was triggering such neanderthal response from BN ministers.

“The government however is unable to react in a proper way to events involving the opposition because their ministers - many of whom come from the Mahathir regime - are not properly trained to do so.”


The BN leaders, Zaid alleged, live by the motto that power and might is right, and see the opposition, the NGOs and the Bar Council as “anti-government”.


This is why their default reactions are always marked by suppression and antagonism, he said.


“They are not keen to engage and properly discuss issues with the opposition. Hostility and force might have done the trick 25 years ago, but not now,” he added.


Zaid said that if the ruling coalition was really sincere with its professed reforms then “they should accept the rights of the rakyat to assemble freely and express valid dissent”.


“They eyes of the world are fixed on Malaysia and it bodes ill of our repute if more violence were to follow,” he added.- malaysiakini





BERSIH 3 : Nazri jahil dan angkuh...

Bekas 'menteri undang-undang' Datuk Zaid Ibrahim hari ini menyelar penggantinya Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz ekoran kenyataannya terhadap perhimpunan BERSIH 3.0 yang didakwa menunjukkan kejahilan dan keangkuhan BN.

"Kenyataan Nazri bahawa perhimpunan BERSIH yang dirancang tidak sah, dan tempat yang dipilih tidak digazetkan untuk perhimpunan aman hanya satu lagi contoh kegagalan BN untuk menangani isu itu dengan wajar.

"Ia membawa nada kejahilan dan keangkuhan untuk tidak melakukan perkara yang betul," kata Zaid yang yang juga presiden parti KITA.

Mengulas isu tempat berhimpun pada 28 April ini, Zaid berkata, menteri dan pihak polis patut membenarkan perhimpunan di Dataran Merdeka seperti dirancang atau tempat lain yang mungkin tanpa menggunakan alasan yang remeh temeh.- malaysiakini





No more talks with EC, says Ambiga...


Polls reform group, Bersih’s chief S Ambiga has declared that there will be no more talks with the Election Commission (EC) and that the coalition will proceed with its planned mass “sit in” protest on April 28th.

The former Bar Council president told FMT that “it would be a waste of time” to engage the body after it failed to respond to Bersih’s demand that poll reforms be implemented before the 13th national polls are held.


The group announced on Wednesday that it would hold a nationwide “sit in” after they deemed Putrajaya’s election reform pledges a failure. The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) had issued its report on the matter on Tuesday.


Bersih detractors claimed the planned protest, dubbed “Bersih 3.0″, showed the group’s insincerity. They said the group was never keen on a diplomatic solution but wanted a street protest aimed at overthrowing the government.
 

Barisan Nasional lawmakers questioned the hasty decision to hold the protest and said its motive was suspect as it gave no timeline for the EC to study the report which is crucial for the recommendations to take place.

Ambiga said the only positive response tolerable would be a clear promise by Putrajaya that the reforms would be implemented by the 13th general election.


“Yes. Unless they make it clear, it is a waste of time. We will not engage the EC anymore,” she said.


Putrajaya’s move to set up a PSC came after the Najib administration grappled with widespread condemnation for its strong arm tactics against Bersih and its supporters at the July rally, forcing the government to consider the group’s demands in a move to contain a potential voter backlash.


No coup


Over 1,600 people were detained as a result, including Ambiga and scores of opposition lawmakers, but the group later declared the event a success based on the number of participants and the publicity it earned in both local and international media.


The July rally, dubbed Bersih 2.0, was the second mass protest held by the group and prior to yesterday’s announcement, talks were rife that the polls watchdog was planning to hold a third.


BN leaders said the rumours strengthened their suspicion that Bersih, backed by the federal opposition bloc Pakatan Rakyat, was planning to hold a series of street demonstrations resembling Egypt’s “Tahrir Square” uprising in a bid to unseat the ruling coalition.


They said Bersih’s complete disregard of EC’s positive response in adopting some of the Bersih-endorsed recommendations made by the PSC proved the allegation that the April 28 demonstration was made even before the report was produced.


But Ambiga said the key motivation behind Bersih 3.0 was not the overthrow of BN.


“We are not the one rushing it (protest). They are the one rushing to hold elections when the mandate only ends in 2013.

“They have all the time to implement the reforms now but they are not doing it,” she said, reiterating that the April 28 sit in will be held as a protest against Putrajaya’s lack of political will to ensure reforms are in place before the coming polls.

She also denied the group had already planned Bersih 3.0 before the PSC report was finalised although there were talks of “what their next course of action would be”.


“I had made it clear that what we do will be subject to what the PSC say”.


Bersih 3.0 will be held at the historic Dataran Merdeka and will go on from 2pm to 4pm.- FMT


Amanah says Bersih 3.0 justifiable

cheers.

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