— Tommy Thomas
The Malaysian Insider
May 07, 2012
MAY 7 — The Prime Minister’s recent statement that Bersih supporters intended to occupy Dataran Merdeka and stay there for days with the objective of overthrowing his government must be answered.
Two broad groups made up Bersih’s massive crowd in Kuala Lumpur on
April 28, 2012. First, genuine Bersih supporters who were calling for clean elections. The second group comprised those who support the Pakatan Coalition. No doubt, thousands of marchers did not belong to either faction (while some straddled both), but this broad division is not inaccurate.
The Bersih supporters just cannot understand how any political party would oppose clean elections. For them, Barisan Nasional’s vigorous opposition, coupled with police brutality that day, indicates that Barisan Nasional has a vested interest with the “status quo”, that it will benefit from the present set-up, with substantial help from the Election Commission.
For this group, Barisan Nasional’s conduct will be punished at the ballot box.
For Pakatan supporters, the decision was already made. They are partisan, just as UMNO supporters are partisan. Nothing that could have occurred on April 28 would change their vote.
But in each case, change was only going to come at the ballot box, when general elections are held. Continue reading “Dataran Merdeka is not Tahrir Square: Malaysia is not Eygpt”