Question No. 4 during Question Time in Parliament today was the star attraction of the day as I had asked the Prime Minister to substantiate his allegation more than a month ago that Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup attempt by the Opposition to overthrow the government.
MPs from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat were expecting some “shocking” revelations to substantiate the very serious allegation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Gua Musang on 4th May and which had the immediate support of three former Inspectors-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar, Tan Sri Rahim Noor and Tan Sri Musa Hassan that the Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup d’etat attempt by Pakatan Rakyat to overthrow the Najib government on April 28 itself!
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who replied on behalf of Najib, was however a total disappointment as he could not give even an iota of evidence to substantiate Najib’s allegation and went completely off tangent into a tirade against Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat.
Nazri is entitled to his jaundiced views about Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat but they do not constitute evidence that the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28 was a coup attempt by Pakatan Rakyat to topple the Barisan Nasional government by force on April 28.
As I countered Nazri during my supplementary question, is the Najib government so weak that “salt and water bottles” (which was all that some of the peaceful Bersih 3.0 protestors were armed that day to defend themselves against any police tear gas and chemically-laced water cannons) could even topple it?
Nazri was deadly serious in his reply, saying “Don’t underrate salt and Water bottles” saying that in Tunisia, the government was toppled by handphones when it did not have the support of the people.
The secret is now out – the Prime Minister and the three former IGPs have absolutely no evidence whatsoever to back the wild and reckless allegation that Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup attempt to topple the government by force, but the Najib government is mortally afraid of “salt and water bottles” because they can topple governments which have lost support of the people.
The challenge to Najib is to find out why despite all the big talk of transformations in various aspects of national life in the past three years, he is losing rather than gaining popular support.
As I repeated in Parliament this morning, the government’s misjudgment and mishandling of Bersih 3.0 and continuing demonization of Bersih 3.0 organisers and Pakatan Rakyat is an even bigger public relations disaster than the government’s initial misjudgment and mishandling of Bersih 2.0 rally of July 9, 2011.
For a start, Najib and three former IGPs Hanif, Rahim and Musa should have the decency to publicly apologise for the baseless allegation that Bersih 3.0 was a coup attempt by Opposition to topple the government by force.
Secondly, the government should dissolve the Hanif “independent advisory panel” inquiring into Bersih 3.0 violence and brutality, unless the panel’s has a secret agenda and term of reference – to come out with a finding that Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government by force.
Instead, the government should give full support to the Suhakam inquiry into Bersih 3.0 to find out what went wrong on April 28 to result in the violence and brutality which marred a peaceful and momentous gathering of hundreds of thousands of Malaysians regardless of race, religion, class, region, age or gender in support of a common national cause – a clean election!
If salt and water bottles just fine for a revolution why spent billions on submarines as defence weapons? We should store up salt and water bottles to defence our country. use the billions for free education.
Salt as revolution weapon may be truth in Indian, but that was hundred years ago where Bapu Mahatma Ghani use salt as weapon against British.
Wouldn’t Najib’s accusation that Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government by force cause more people (who wanted a fair election) to abandon their support for BN?
Nazri wanted to reply: Because Mahathir say so mah…
Did you ask him about his errant son Nedim?
Bersih 4.0 will be allowed if salt and water bottles are not carried into town.
Forget about pea brain Nazri. The challenge is how do we get this information to the kampong folks, where the votes count more ( 6:1 to be exact ).
This government is a laughing stock – water n salt to overthrow government, showing off butts, stopping scholarship in political tit for tat, soon to be persona non grata in Paris, etc etc.
We need to change the tenant at Putrajaya. GE 13 is coming. If no significant electoral reforms, first to Bersih 4.0, then to GE 13, then to Putrajaya.
Change we must. Change we can. Change we will.
Salt and water bottles will be the next thing to be banned by them along with other nonsense…..
If salt and water bottles are so lethal to them, what is our army and police being armed with? Water pistols and origami aeroplanes and tanks?
It is not salt, bottles or handphone. It is the will of the people that brings down corrupted tyrants. They never learn do they?
aiyoyo…umno has truly gone bonkers.
///Nazri was deadly serious in his reply, saying “Don’t underrate salt and Water bottles” saying that in Tunisia, the government was toppled by handphones when it did not have the support of the people.///
Nazri should investigate how the handphones were used to topple the government. Did the demonstrators used their handphones to hammer the police in Tunisia and caused the government to topple? Did Nazri expect the Bersih supporters to use their salt water bottles the way Tunisia demonstrators used their handphones. Are the salt and water bottles carried by the Bersih supporters capable of establishing communications? Indeed the Bersih demonstrators did have their handphones too. Wouldn’t that be a better excuse to link it to the Tunisia demonstration?
Bersih supporters had to carry salt and water bottles to protect themselves against government tear gas canisters, some 957 canisters were used. They knew that the government were simply irresponsible and the police were licensed to create troubles throwing tear gas canisters. Are Malaysians not entitled to protect ourselves in facing irresponsible police force?
The police set up barrier in the stadium specially for that day. Was there any government property to protect that led the government putting up barriers? Were the barriers needed. The barrier were only used to show that the police can utilize anything to exert authority. It was just like children daring one another to step one a line in sand. It is simply childish.
The police was duty bound to to facilitate demonstration, as the right of the citizens to demonstrate is given. How did the police consider it facilitation when it set traps for the demonstrators so that the police had the excuse to do what it did; to create commotion and put the blame on the demonstrators. The most despicable of all is the person who heads the government, Najib, who utilized the police trap to claim that there were conspiracies to engineer coup d’etat. Malaysians are too docile to overthrow the government by force. By the records of BN’s malfeasance and corruption, the government would have long be overthrown by force in other countries.
It appears they think of these allegation way before the actual event even started – Mahathir now claim PR will bring false charges against him when PR takes Putrajaya.
Seriously, they spend so much time to come up with excuses so many steps ahead – how they hell can they NOT mess up and do a crappy job in the present?
D Internet too is a powerful lethal weapon dat can lead 2 d collapse of an evil regime
Dis is Y MMK, NR, UmnoB/BN r targetting d Internet
AhCHEAT kor n sow r happy their future son-in-law is a confirmed CHEAT, same same, all in d family: I cheat U, U cheat me, OK 1
It is not right to make the government live in fear, even if it is only salt and water bottles. May I suggest that we have BERSIH 4 but prior to holding it we runding with government and PDRM and make this one very peaceful and friendly. Instead of salt and water bottles, we carry coca cola drinks with the condition PDRM cannot use tear gas. Things Go Better With Coca-Cola….Better With Big, Big Coke. I think Coca-Cola will be very happy to sponsor BERSIH 4
EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Nazri said salt and water can topple the government.
That’s our Law Minister talking.
Mahathir started the whole thing about Bersih out to topple the government. Maybe he should step forward to show evidence. But if he cannot remember he ever said that, we ought to forgive him because of his worsening amnesia.
Maybe the fear thus created by them is a good approach to let them dream of dreams of their making. Such fear can come about because only they thenselves knew of their past actions. This guilty conscience won’t just disappear. The Creator has made it as such! Let them sow all those fears among themselves, so that they will finally have an implosion!
Vietnam war. Bolsheviks. South American dictators. Marcos. French revolution. Recently Tunisia, Egypt, Syria.
Water bottles, salt and handphone? I don’t see these have anything in common. The only thing in common is corrupted tyrants brought down by the will of the people.
Najib assuared Malaysians he will do more so that the people can go about their everyday lives “free of fear” Najib must walk his talk by doing the first and most important thing: Retract his “crushed bones and dead bodies” statement. That is what rakyat fear the most. Jangan cakap lain. buat lain pulak !
Aiya!! Ayer!
Geram!! Garam!