KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — Police were the hidden heroes yesterday, when fears of possible conflict between attendees of Bersih 5 and the rival “Red Shirts” rally went unfounded.
Despite Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar's warning of robust response by the thousands of police officers deployed, yesterday's rallies proceeded without a single tear gas canister fired.
The police's restraint, particularly in corralling the “Red Shirts” that repeatedly tried to intercept the Bersih 5 rally, did not go unnoticed, with organisers of the latter expressing their thanks despite the arrest of their leader, Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah.
“Bersih 2.0 would like to extend our thanks to @PDRMsia for keeping the peace and ensuring the safety of #BERSIH5's rally-goers. @KBAB51,” the group wrote on Twitter, addressing the police and Khalid's accounts.
Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, activist and daughter of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, similarly congratulated the police for their handling of what could have been an incendiary situation.
Although Marina noted that police chose to arrest 14 leaders of both rallies prior to their starts, she said they had otherwise performed commendably in maintaining peace and security.
“I want to say that @PDRMsia were very good today. Just did their job and kept the peace. We all felt very secure. Thank you!” she wrote on Twitter last night.
More than 10,000 people took to the streets of the capital city yesterday at the fifth edition of polls reform group Bersih 2.0’s demonstrations to protest against corruption.
A smaller number of the “Red Shirts” also rallied without major incident aside from sporadic arrests by police.
Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz told Malay Mail Online that yesterday's events demonstrated that Malaysia enjoyed a healthy democracy in which dissent was tolerated.
Khalid also congratulated his officers for preventing possible clashes between the two rallies yesterday.
“Members of @PDRMsia demonstrated most commendable patience and professionalism in performing their duties today. #GoPDRMGo,” he wrote last night.
