Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan has urged the government not to ignore the unprecedented turnout at the Bersih 3.0 rally despite the incidences of violence that occurred.

“Ultimately, when the dust settles and the truth emerges, the question is, what is the government’s response to the 250,000 people that came out to demand for clean and fair elections.

“(The turnout) is not including the numbers nationwide and globally. We are still gathering the numbers, don’t try to deflect (from the issue of electoral reform),” she said.

NONE Ambiga ( left in photo ) said the movement will deal first with the injuries and police violence during its historic demonstration yesterday in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, but will still press on with its electoral reform agenda.

A responsible government, she added, will conduct investigations into all the injuries inflicted by police at the protest and also respect the will of the people who turned up in force yesterday.

“We will continue to present any evidence of discrepancies in the electoral roll.

“Remember the demands of Bersih, I want answers,” she said.

Ambiga added that she agreed with the comments made by an international fact-finding mission on the country’s electoral system led by Australian senator Nick Xenophon that authorities deliberately provoked protesters in order to lay blame on them.

The demonstration yesterday was the biggest since the Reformasi movement in 1999 but saw some 512 people arrested, many of whom claimed they were beaten.

She added that if claims that Election Commission (EC) chief Abdul Aziz Yusof and EC deputy chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar are Umno members are true, they must resign.

Abdul Aziz had admitted that he may have been an Umno member but was unclear on his current status, while his deputy similarly said he used to be an Umno member.

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