YOURSAY 'Had there been any sort of disturbance at Saturday's rally, he would say that Pakatan supporters are a bunch of troublemakers.'

Najib: KL112 shows success of BN's reforms

LittleGiant: The PM need not take any credit for the incident-free KL112 (Jan 12) mega-rally. The truth could be that a lot of people stayed away from the rally as they did not trust BN and had probably expected BN 'employed' troublemakers to disrupt the rally and cause a ruckus.

Unlike BN gatherings, the more than 100,000 people came to the 112 rally spontaneously without expecting any handouts and freebies. That should speak volumes that the rakyat at the rally came to express their complete disillusionment with the corrupt regime of BN.

As for former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad's comment that the rally was an attempt to topple the government, he has become so terrified with the possibility of Pakatan Rakyat capturing Putrajaya in GE13 that even two or three people gathered under a tree by the roadside and having a casual chat makes him shiver.

The truth is the rakyat do not want to topple the government. They just want to change the government at GE13.

Onyourtoes: Seriously I really don't know how to describe this group of deranged people. When BN organised grand rallies with massive state support, did Pakatan people say anything?

When Umno-BN leaders traveled and used state machinery and government time to do party work, did Pakatan people say anything?

We have one Pakatan rally and now they have so many things to say - from Umno Youth leader to home minister to present PM and one senile former PM - to claim credit and display their fake liberalism and pseudo-transformation. Real bunkum.

Bender: PM Najib Razak, we never asked you to comment on how great your government has performed by way of piggybacking on Pakatan's success.

But we did urged you, many times already, to respond to carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan's claim about you and your wife's involvement in some controversial deals involving the government.

Yes, if you must hear it from us, your government has done good in assisting Pakatan to organise the rally. Thank you for that.

Now, let's get to the matter raised by Deepak. Will you comment on that please? The question is already way past due. We do need to clear your name from the scandal, don't we? Be a good PM and entertain your people's request.

I hate to tell you this, but if you don't respond, we will have to make our own conclusion about the scandal - that you're neck deep in it and so is that beautiful wife of yours. It would be a shame to let us come to that conclusion, wouldn't it?

Weird, I'm in a mood to be polite today. Normally I would have just cursed you 'til kingdom come!

Tholu: Mahatma Gandhi had led a lot of protests against British occupation in India. In his famous 24-day 390km ‘salt march', he was joined by hundreds of thousands of the Indian people along the way.

There was no incident of violence all throughout the march. It was not because the British soldiers restrained and refrained from being violent against the marchers but simply because when Gandhi set out on his march, any thought of violence against the British soldiers never cropped up in his mind, neither was it contemplated by the accompanying marchers.

The march was a peaceful, non-violent protest. The British soldiers cannot be credited for an incident-free march and never did they claim it.

But, here in Malaysia, Najib seeks to earn credit to his transformation programme for the peaceful KL122 rally. It is an egocentric and shameful attempt. It actually betrays your feeling of enviousness and frustration over the mammoth support for the opposition.

Unmasked: It's a case of heads I win, tail you lose. Had there been any sort of disturbance at the rally, he would say that Pakatan supporters are a bunch of troublemakers and no future permissions would be granted for such rallies.

Wira: Najib, you should have done the same for Bersih 3.0. All the injuries and agony were unnecessary and they happened because of you.

You did not apply a tough stand this time because you were dead worried about losing and had to try anything and everything to save your skin.

Queenie: If these are the type of people who are supposed to bring us to a new horizon, then you really have to despair for this country. They claim credit where none is due them. It's not only sad, it's utterly pathetic.

Myop101: Najib, I disagree. It is because the rakyat has woken up and threaten your rice bowl that you have no choice but hesitantly allow KL112 to proceed.

For the past 55 years, what has BN or the former Alliance did to allow for peaceful assembly? Nothing. Also, if BN have allowed for more democratic space, would BN really expect 100,000 turnout for KL112 and the massive turnouts for other rallies?

1234567: "But Malaysia is not like them, we don't have a dictatorship, our government is chosen by the people."

You're right Mahathir, we don't have a dictatorship, but we have a corrupt government, so the people will choose another government to replace this one.

FellowMalaysian: I would like to remind Mahathir that Egypt's Hosni Mubarak-government was also chosen and elected by the people but he ruled Egypt single-handedly for nearly 30 years before the people's uprising in Tahrir Square finally brought him down.

Will a dictator, whether elected democratically or self-appointed autocratic-style, profess that he is a dictator?

JMC: Najib should be commended for allowing the rally. It is indeed an accomplishment on his part. However, he must keep in mind that the rally was not a picnic but a show of displeasure of the people with him and his Umno-BN government that has been deaf to the demands of the people.

It is a demand of the people to end the many corruption scandals that has plagued his government, siphoning away billions of ringgit. It is a call for clean, free and fair elections and putting an end to racist policies.

Praising the opposition for a peaceful rally is not enough, but he must do more to address the grouses of the people aired at the rally and many others before that.

Not Confused: Good try Najib - sorry, I'm not impressed. If anything, it demonstrates beyond any shadow of a doubt how badly your cousin home minister misjudged and mishandled Bersih 3.0 rally last year.

I think most of us pointed out at that time how the police should facilitate the rally rather than use the FRU (riot unit), water cannon and tear gas on thousands of innocent people.

Any government with integrity and understanding of the democratic process would have known what the rakyat wanted and needed, and it wasn't to be gassed or beaten up.

The handling this time is a clear admission of your past ineptitude. Too little and far too late I'm afraid.

Disbeliever: Mr PM, you've got it all wrong. It doesn't show the success of BN reforms at all. On the contrary, it has proven that all the rallies before KL112 such as the Bersih rallies and other gatherings would have taken place peacefully if not for the alleged brutality of the members of the police force.

The restraint shown by PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police), the absence of water cannons and tear-gas canisters have shown to the whole world that Malaysians can assemble peacefully.

Perhaps, in a manner of speaking, you are right that there is reform, that is reform that will take place at the ballot box to ensure that BN is relegated to the opposition chair after GE-13.

Clever Voter: Before everyone gets carry away with the successful outcome on Saturday, let's not forget the one that matters most is the vote counts.

The electoral system is full of flaws, if there is to be any political watershed a full turnout with huge majority for Pakatan component parties is necessary. That is a tall order but not impossible with everyone's will to change.

Fairnessforall: So that's why TV3 lied about the rally and called it ‘Perhimpunan Shamsidar' instead and made up a cock-and-bull story about the reason for the rally.

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