Talk better than march, Koh tells Bersih
Bersih should resort to peaceful dialogues to resolve election issues and not illegal street demonstrations, said Gerakan president Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
Bersih should resort to peaceful dialogues to resolve election issues and not illegal street demonstrations, said Gerakan president Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
"This is Gerakan's stand, there is no need for Bersih to hold the illegal demonstration in the federal capital on July 9," Koh, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, told reporters after chairing a meeting of Gerakan's Central Committee today.
He said Bersih's claim that elections in Malaysia were not clean or fair were baseless as the opposition had even won in postal voting besides winning five states in the last general election in 2008.
He suggested that Bersih hold a forum and invite the Election Commission (EC) to thrash out its grievances.
Koh also advised other groups planning to hold counter-demonstrations to protest the Bersih illegal street demonstration to refrain from doing so as it would only exacerbate the situation.
In Gopeng, Umno vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal said the demonstration planned by Bersih was a reflection of the opposition parties' fear and unpreparedness to face the coming general election.
Shafie, who is also rural and regional development minister, said the illegal assembly was an exercise in futility and was a desperate attempt by opposition parties to win the people's support.
"Actually, they are afraid. They are objecting to the existing election process that has enabled them to be in power in Penang, Kedah, Selangor and Kelantan," he told reporters after opening a Kemas community centre.
Gaps tells Bersih to emulate Gandhi
In Shah Alam, Gagasan Anti Penyelewengan Selangor (Gaps) chief Hamidzun Khairuddin said Bersih should not adopt West Asian style of street demonstrations as they were very destructive and instead of uniting the people, they sowed discord.
"When the word 'democracy' is used, responsible parties should emulate role models such as Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and even Malaysian leaders like Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Tan Cheng Lock and VT Sambanthan who united people," he told reporters.
He said Gaps saw the Bersih demonstration planned for July 9 as being more of a diversion tactic to distract people from issues plaguing opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim such as the sodomy charges the latter was facing and his alleged link to a sex video.
He also advised Bersih chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan not to be a rabble-rouser and register the movement as a political party for the next general election.
- Bernama
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