Bersih 5: Malaysia protests – LIVE
IT’s that time of year again for Malaysia.
Thousands – likely tens of thousands – will be flooding the streets of Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur today in a mass protest demanding key democratic reforms and the resignation of their Prime Minister, Najib Razak.
Their reason for wanting the leader out of Malaysia’s driving seat is simple – Najib and his ilk have been linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy, a massive financial scandal involving billions of dollars worth of state funds. The scandal, a complex web of opaque deals and transactions spanning several countries, is now the subject of numerous international probes and a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit. And as investigators creep closer and closer to unmasking the truth, calls for Najib’s early retirement have been growing louder in the Southeast Asian nation.
Bersih 2.0, also known as the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, has been at the forefront of the campaign to unseat Najib, a campaign that has in recent months been joined by a number of unlikely personalities. Leading the pack is former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a man both celebrated and loathed – first as the forward-thinking leader who marked Malaysia’s place on the world map and second as the authoritarian who ruled for 22 years with an iron fist, ruthlessly punishing political dissent with impunity. Among others, Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister has arrested and jailed scores of politicians and activists who dared defy his leadership, even sacking and imprisoning his former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.
Now, however, Dr Mahathir has jumped the fence to the other side. He has aligned himself with the opposition, left ruling party Umno (United Malays National Organisation) and, along with a number of other ousted leaders from the party, have formed his own political platform. Earlier this week, the 91-year-old former statesman donned a yellow Bersih 2.0 T-shirt and appeared in a promotional video urging Malaysians to join today’s protest. He said:
I hope all Malaysians will join this rally by Bersih because they aim to find a way to heal our country, change the government, so that it would be no longer led by a person who has been accused of stealing so much money…
This is my hope and I hope all Malaysians will give their full support and participate in the Bersih rally.
With Dr Mahathir’s influence and the growing chorus of dissent against Najib’s leadership, today’s turnout may well exceed that of Bersih 2.0’s previous gatherings – the group claims its two-day gathering last year drew about 500,000 protesters.
But not unlike some of its past protests, trouble is also expected at this year’s gathering, this time in the form of the “Red Shirts” group, a counter movement headed by Umno strongman Jamal Yunos. Recent events also indicate that the authorities may decide to crack down on protesters, although a law enacted several years ago says such public gatherings are no longer illegal once the appropriate notice is given. Last night, Bersih chairman Maria Chin Abdullah and the group’s secretariat manager Mandeep Singh were arrested by the police after their office was raided.
Despite the setback, however, the group issued a statement later telling Malaysians:
Bersih 5 will go on as planned and we hope that this heavy-handed action on the part of the authorities will spur Malaysians into coming down to the streets tomorrow not just to demand for institutional reforms but to protest injustices happening in the country.
In anticipation of possible violence, some 7,000 policemen are expected to be deployed for the gathering today, while about 60 roads into the city will be blocked to motorists from 7am.
Bersih 5 will go on from 10am and last through to 6pm. Protesters are expected to gather at two meeting points in the city before converging on Dataran Merdeka, also known as “independence square”, where the rally will be held.
To bring the action to you, Asian Correspondent has deployed its team to the ground and will be providing you with breaking news updates, pictures and videos as events unfurl.
Keep watching this space to stay updated.
