Protest naked if you want, but do it at a stadium, Tengku Adnan tells Bersih 2.0

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — The Federal Territories minister put his foot down today on Bersih 2.0 holding any demonstration at either the iconic Dataran Merdeka or Padang Merbok in the national capital, but said the electoral reform group can do as it wishes in a stadium, including going nude.

Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said that having a mass rally out in the open was a cause for concern and suggested it be held in a contained space like Malawati Stadium in the Selangor capital of Shah Alam.

“What will happen if you walk and some crazy people do something untoward? Do we want to take that risk?” he posed to reporters when asked for comment on Bersih’s insistence on holding their August 29 and 30 rally in the city’s open fields.

“If they want to, they can go to any stadium they want. Go to Stadium Malawati at Selangor. Do whatever, you want to shout, want to be naked, do whatever you like,” he added.

He said aside from keeping the commotion contained, the authorities have barred the use of the locations to give way to Merdeka Day celebrations.

“We have already said no, because Dataran Merdeka has historic value, that is also going to be used for National Day celebrations. Padang Merbok because of the logistics. So we are not going to allow them. We don’t want them to come into the open,” he said.

Tengku Adnan added that the government was not opposed to people wanting to demonstrate, but required demonstrators to follow the rules.

“The government is so nice to allow you to demonstrate, but we say, keep it in a contained place,” he said.

Bersih 2.0’s application to hold its two-day long Bersih 4 demonstration at Dataran Merdeka and Padang Merbok was rejected by the park owners yesterday.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) cited preparations for Merdeka Day celebrations to take place on August 31 as its reason for the refusal and instead, suggested Bersih 2.0 organise its rally a week later.

The rejection by DBKL in turn saw the police also barring the rally as it failed to get the required approvals.

The police have also suggested previously that the locations be changed to the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil to house the expected crowd of over 100,000.