KUCHING, Aug 30 — Despite an early end to the Sarawak edition of Bersih 4, the state representative of the electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 Karen Shepherd branded it a success.

The rally that kicked off at 2pm yesterday at the Song Kheng Hai rugby field here was to run for 34 hours before ending at midnight today, simultaneously with Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur in the peninsula.

Instead, Sarawak Bersih 4 organisers cancelled it shortly after the witching hour on the first day.

“It has given a chance for us to express ourselves and we have succeeded on that,”  Shepherd told reporters earlier today.

She said the rally was an avenue for Sarawakians to express themselves and not to quarrel with the authorities, including the police.

“I think that was done in a peaceful and democratic way and after that we dispersed peaceful, and we should take note of that,” she said.

She said about 6,000 people turned up for the rally yesterday afternoon and more came later in the evening.

“I thought the atmosphere was very marvellous and the people were very patience,” she said, adding it was more like a festival than anything else.

Shepherd said the Barisan Nasional leaders and elected representatives were missing something by not accepting the invitation from the organisers to come to the rally.

“It was a great chance for them to express themselves and for them to look in the eyes of the people and be part of the crowd and to understand what the people care about and we are the voting public,” she said.

Shepherd said the opposition politicians accepted the invitations and spoke at the rally.

On claims that more urban than rural dwellers were attending yesterday’s rally, Shepherd explained it might be true because it was easy for the urban people to come.

“They do not have the transport problem. They just drive here and arrive within minutes. But for the rural people, transport is a problem,” she said.

“Our state roads are in terrible conditions,” she added.

Nevertheless, she said a good number of rural people, especially from the rural towns, came for the rally yesterday.

“It was rather a sacrifice for them to come and listen to the speeches at the rally,” she said.

She said it is not fair to make assessment that the urban people care more on fair and just election and clean government than the rural people.

“Both the urban and rural people are equally sharing the same feelings on what’s going on around them,” she said.