The police today gave permission to a May Day gathering organised by a coalition comprising various non-governmental organisations, labour groups and opposition parties at the Dataran Merdeka tomorrow.

The police's blessing for tomorrow's May Day rally will avoid a repetition of the mass arrests of demonstrators which occurred at last year's celebration .

The May Day rally, held o­n May 1 every year, celebrates the struggles and achievements of workers worldwide.

According to a statement from Parti Sosialis Malaysia, the police permit for the rally was given after a meeting between the Dang Wangi district police chief Hadi Ho Abdullah and the May Day organising committee members this morning.

The committee were represented by PSM pro-tem secretary S Arutchelvan and central committee member V Selvam.

The deal

The committee had earlier submitted a letter informing the police about the annual event and appealed to them for cooperation.

The organisers had given the assurances that the rally would be peaceful and the crowd would not be unruly.

At the meeting today, called by Hadi Ho, the organisers are told they could hold the event for 90 minutes beginning 10.30am tomorrow.

The police also said that posters, banners and speeches unrelated to the celebration of Labour Day would be banned.

Given this, no political speeches and political party banners are allowed at the rally.

The police also said the participants could meet in two areas at 10am - Central Market, Kuala Lumpur railway station - before moving to Dataran Merdeka.

20 people arrested

Meanwhile, organising committee's coordinator D Sivan told malaysiakini that about 3,000 people nationwide are expected to turn up for tomorrow's event.

Most of these are plantation workers, farmers, factory workers, urban settlers and students, he added.

The event will feature a declaration which was endorsed by 62 groups, role playing, songs and speeches.

The theme of the celebration for this year is the impact of the United States-led war against Iraq o­n workers.

Last year, 20 people were arrested at the May Day rally for 'illegal assembly' when the police moved in to disperse the crowd.

To stop the crowd from congregating, the police erected checkpoints at several highway toll stations and

stopped buses from ferrying workers to the rally venue in Kuala Lumpur.

The May Day organising committee has been holding the event - first held in Dataran Merdeka - since 1994.

MTUC function

Meanwhile the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) will be celebrating the day by holding a workers' get together at the TNB Kelab Kilat field in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

About 2,000 workers are expected to attend this gathering, which will also include a sports carnival. Later at night, the MTUC is organising a dinner for about 1,3000 workers at the MPPJ Civic Centre.