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I took part in the last two rallies organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), and now they are announcing a fourth to take place for 36 hours in Kuala Lumpur. But more than that, suddenly it is no longer about clean and fair elections.

The way I always saw it, Bersih is a pressure group. It times its rallies with elections in mind and the want for electoral reform. They would have been better off saying they were protesting the latest ruling by the courts on the redelineation in Sarawak in favour of the Electoral Commission.

But that is not even specifically mentioned on the list of what Bersih 4 is about. Well, maybe they are trying to keep it simple.

Let us review what Bersih has done for us in the long run.

On July 9, 2011, the so-called Walk for Democracy hosted by Bersih caused the government under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to form a parliament select committee to review issues regarding electoral reform.

On Malaysia Day the same year, Najib announced intentions to repeal the Internal Security Act, the Emergency Ordinance, removing the need for an annual review of printing and publication licenses, and giving birth to the Peaceful Assembly Act.

Personally, I thought then that yes, this was a move in the right direction and it was a success.

And then came Bersih 3.0, the so-called ‘Sit-In’ rally which was anything but sitting in April 2012.

This was where Bersih and its supporters lost control of the crowd and decided to tear down the barricades even after explicitly stating it would not do such a thing. And this was when I basically lost respect for them.

It was supposed to be a sit-in protest. All people had to do was to sit down and basically start chatting. Heck, they could even open a book and get through the protest without an issue. But that did not happen. Instead, what we saw was a disgusting display of an uncontrolled mob.

And now we are at Bersih 4.

In their online press release regarding the upcoming ‘Democracy Festival’ on Aug 29 through August 30, the coalition has five demands; clean elections, clean governance, freedom of protest, strengthening parliamentary democracy and even ‘saving the Malaysian economy’.

Of the five, the last one is quite new for anyone who has been to a Bersih rally. But more to the point, just what exactly is their plan?

Asking for a simple clarification

So I ask for a simple clarification. Just how exactly would they be pushing for economic reform?

Will they be urging the removal of the Goods and Services Tax (GST)? Will they be asking for more power for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission? Will they be supporting better audits?

Since it is urging a saving of the Malaysian economy, it is only fair that they detail their plan because in the last rallies, it was always highlighted that these have been economically detrimental.

The only ones who have gone on the record saying that they recorded an increase in income was Prasarana Nasional Bhd’s LRT service, which had a representative say so during the Suhakam inquiry.

Yes, we do need clean and fair elections. But more so, we need an end to hypocrisy especially among NGOs which we trust. Yes, a majority of Malaysians do not want Najib as prime minister.

We saw that in the last general election, and we know that even now where he is being attacked within his own party over where he got some RM2.6 billion from. But at the same time, there needs to be pressure once again on electoral reform, not a ‘people’s version of a vote of no-confidence’ that will lead to nothing.

There is nothing to be gained in this Bersih rally. There are no specifics mentioned, either in the form of protesting the recent Sarawak redelineation appeal in favour of the Electoral Commission or even protesting the need for more reforms in governance (which isn’t even in their name).

Also, I blame my ability to not forget that I lost some respect for Bersih due to their last rally.

Because as much as there has been an erosion of trust in the government, I personally saw my trust in Bersih eroded during their third rally when they started undoing the barricades. And I haven’t forgotten the fact that even then, the coalition went into denial mode rather than own up to losing control.

So I will wait until Bersih gets their act together and explain specifics, before deciding whether to join in.

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