Former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor has said that Pakatan Rakyat was out to cause bloodshed during the Bersih 3.0 protest on April 28 because it was not confident of capturing Putrajaya through legal means.

In an interview with the weekend edition of Malay daily Berita Harian , Abdul Rahim said the independent panel set up to investigate the Bersih 3.0 protest must look into this claim in order to take preventive measures.

"I have received information that are seditious in nature, supposedly the opposition is not confident in capturing Putajaya and have opted for ‘ pertumpahan darah (bloodshed)’," he was quoted as saying.

In the report, Abdul Rahim added, the endorsee within the Bersih coalition should also be scrutunised by the panel to take preventive action against them.

"The panel must investigate the list of NGOs in the coalition. Investigate the possibility that the situation will become worse because they're now charged with Bersih's mission.

"There needs to be preventive measures before something happens that will cause them to oppose and act out of line," he was quoted as saying.

Marxist tactics

According to the report,  Abdul Rahim conceded that the people behind Bersih were not Marxist, but said the tactics adopted by the polls reform movement was similar to it.

This, he said in the report, is due to the fact that even though Bersih advocated for electoral reform, it is a platform where which captalises on the people's dissatisfaction to gather them under a mass movement.

"When it becomes a mass movement, the purpose is to topple the government and agitate the people against policies and institutions.

"It's no longer a 'flower', there is detailed planning involving a few individuals behind the scenes which has certain records. The movement on April 28 was like the Marxist movement,” he told the daily.