Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin today said that it was not true that illegal rallies were a common practice and accepted by society in western countries.

He said although demonstrations existed in other major cities of the world, they were not held at one’s whim and fancy, and if there were any, it hardly caused problems and the demonstrators would not provoke the police.  

Khairy said the opposition’s allegation that the government had restricted freedom of expression was inaccurate because even in the United States, for example, which practices freedom of expression, organisers of demonstrations must first apply for a permit.

He said the opposition’s agenda in holding demonstration was to provoke the police with the intention of showing the bad side of the law enforcers should they respond to the provocation.

“The illegal rally held recently had clearly diverted from its original objective... it was initially lobbying for fair elections, but during the rally, it was crystal clear that they had a bad political motive,” he told reporters after attending a seminar on the 1Malaysia Concept in Rembau today.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Ahmad Maslan, who opened the seminar, said police had followed the proper procedure in dispersing the illegal rally in Kuala Lumpur on July 9.

“If they expect the police to disperse the demonstrators by giving them a pat on the back, it would probably take more than a week. Action taken by the police was a common procedure undertaken worldwide,” he said.

- Bernama

Khairy, ask gov't to explain PSM 6, too