AUG 17 — Bersih 2.0 will be organising overnight Bersih 4.0 rallies from August 29 to 30 in three cities, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.
The rallies will make five demands to the government, namely clean election, clean governance, right to dissent, saving the national economy and strengthen parliamentary democracy.
Deputy IGP Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the police would not interfere if the rallies were carried out in a peaceful way.
However, he said the police would still take actions if there were any incident against the law.
Obviously the tone is somewhat different from the continuous warnings issued by the police during past rallies.
Holding peaceful rally is the freedom and right of the people, and the country’s Constitution has provided such a fundamental right for the people to assemble peacefully.
The police have come to recognise this right, and have now allowed the public to vent their frustration or express their views through peaceful rallies. In the meantime, it is also essential for the rally participants to abide by the laws and public order.
As a matter of fact, the police have acted quite mildly towards recent rallies, including the 2013 rally that saw the participation of more than 100,000 people, and the rallies in support of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and against the implementation of GST.
All these rallies concluded in a peaceful manner with a high degree of cooperation from both the police and participants.
Such instances have won the thumbs-up of the media and rally participants, marking one step forward in the country’s civic movement history.
We have every reason to believe that the police have picked up some lessons during the violent crashes in the two Bersih rallies in 2011 and 2012, and that they need to adopt a milder stance in order to gain back public confidence.
Bersih has in the past organized three major rallies to fight for electoral reforms and clean governance in 2007, 2011 and 2012, with the tremendous support from almost a hundred non-governmental organisations.
Bersih has since evolved as the the trendsetter of mammoth civic campaigns in the country.
It has won the support of the masses because its demands for electoral reforms , good governance and clean parliamentary system meet the aspirations of the public.
While the rally constitutes one of the channels for the public to express themselves, owing to the sheer number of participants, it is imperative that the organizers take into thorough consideration various safety measures lest a small group of irresponsible individuals will create trouble or hijack the rally, turning it into a state of total confusion, thus robbing the people’s right to express themselves.
Rally participants must adopt a rational and non-violent attitude while staying constantly alert so as not to be emotionally affected by the trouble-makers into behaviors that contravene the principles of peaceful assemblies.
More importantly, we must be psychologically prepared for any untoward incident that might pop up.
Since violent conflicts are inevitable for mass rallies, it is advisable for the aged and underage children to stay away.
It is our wish that the upcoming Bersih 4.0 rally will be one that manifests the maturity and rationality of the Malaysian public as well as one big leap forward for democracy.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
