YOURSAY 'This is what Musa Hassan meant by political interference of police efforts. Decisions made in the morning, rescinded by lunch time.'

In about-turn, cops say use Bukit Jalil stadium instead

Ferdtan: Kuala Lumpur police chief Mohmad Salleh appeared to reverse the decision of IGP (inspector-general of police) by offering Stadium Bukit Jalil instead of Stadium Merdeka.

This was after the suggestion given by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. Did the minister influence or instruct the KL police chief to do so?

According to former IGP Musa Hassan at a press conference, the police force under him faced interference from Hishammuddin.

Musa said the minister had once given instructions directly to junior police officers and a police chief without his knowledge. He pointed out that this is an offence under Section 4 (1) of the Police Act.

The question is whether Hishammuddin is still at it - breaking the law by interfering in the police duty. Anyone care to make a police report against him if it is found to be true?

Now with the ‘cop out' on the agreed venue for the People's Uprising Rally, it will certainly create more controversy.

In Bersih 2.0, it was PM Najib Razak who personally had a public spat with rally organiser co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan when he offered Merdeka Stadium as the venue. Same thing happened to the Bersih 3.0 rally when Dataran Merdeka was not allowed by the City Hall mayor.

Due to the stupidity of Najib, Hishammuddin, the City Hall mayor and police, there were unexpected huge turnouts at the Bersih rallies. This time it would be no difference.

Come all, for history is to be made this Saturday at Merdeka Stadium.

Paul Warren: This is what Musa Hassan meant by political interference of police efforts. Decisions made in the morning, rescinded by lunch time.

I feel sorry for the police who are made to feel like fools. But to me, Merdeka Stadium is where I shall be. Anyone else coming?

Anonymous_4196: The last-minute change of venue just shows the true colour of PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police).

They are all out to make it difficult for the rakyat. They were given ample time to approve and work with the organisers but they did no such thing.

Not Confused: Same old, same old. Just ignore them. As usual, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and meantime Hishammuddin is doing his usual job of making life difficult for everyone and threatening this and that.

No worries, his days are numbered, just like the rest of the motley bunch in BN.

Adnan Abdullah: Merdeka Stadium is large enough to accommodate more than 100,000 people, and more.

The seating capacity is no doubt only 30,000, but the gathering is not going to be a sit-in. Everyone will be standing up to demand their rights.

If there is a need for more space, there's the car park outside. I don't know why the home minister is so dumb as not to know the facts.

Don't Play-Play: I would like to remind the police again that it will be a grave mistake if they are allowed to march to Merdeka Stadium.

Their permit is only for a peaceful assembly in the stadium and the authorities must make sure that they keep to their part of the bargain. Failing which, the police have to act without fear.

The majority of the peace-loving rakyat are behind the PDRM.

Quigonbond: The home minister and police miss the point again. There is no street protest. The protest is happening at the stadium. For now, it's just a march to the stadium. How illegal is that? We're just walking along with a bunch of people.

It's the march that matters, not the end gathering at Merdeka Stadium. Merdeka Stadium has already said yes, they have no reason to say no now. We're marching there. Period. If the police makes a mess of things, that's the end of BN.

Multi Racial: Well, since the police promise a peaceful rally and they anticipate huge crowd which the stadium is not big enough to house, what should the police do?

Make sure the stadium's car park area, the roads leading to the stadium will be free to house the spillover.

It has to be Stadium Merdeka as it is too late to change. Besides, using the same reason, Bukit Jalil is also not enough to house 1,000,000 people, so why change?

Besides Stadium Merdeka was chosen in the first place due to it symbolic reason. So don't turn around add new conditions. Just keep to your promise on keeping the demonstration safe and peaceful and the organisers will do their part to keep everything orderly.

Alina Rastam: Indecisive, fickle-minded, untrustworthy, two-faced... the list of adjectives to describe our police is endless.

Wira: The next step in the script now is for the stadium authorities to get a court order prohibiting the gathering.

It's going to be a repeat of Bersih 3.0. Umno is trying to intimidate those who intend to attend this gathering. The people shall not be moved. We shall fight the corrupt and bring them down.

Opah: Here we go again, we approved it but it does not mean that you can actually use it. This is Umno's style to turn this rally into an illegal one. The same Umno-speak was employed in Bersih 3.0.

I was comtemplating going for this rally. Now I am sure. I will be there.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .