The police will not allow Bersih’s planned sit-in protest at Dataran Merdeka on Saturday, citing “safety reasons” for their decision.

Dang Wangi district police chief Mohamad Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman, in a letter to steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah, referred to Bersih's letters dated April 16 and 19.

A copy of the letter from the police has been uploaded on the Facebook page of Bersih, the coalition for clean and fair elections.

NONE Speaking to reporters, steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah said the letter was delivered to Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower), which serves at the Bersih’s secretariat, in Petaling Jaya.                    

The letter was hand-delivered as Maria was on her way to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters for a 3pm discussion on logistics for the rally, which has been slated to be held at Dataran Merdeka.

“We only requested for assistance with traffic control but their reply seems to mean they will not allow the event at all,” she said.

Upon being informed about the letter, Maria said, she tried to meet Zulkarnain but the front desk officers informed her that he was in a meeting.

“So I left my number and asked for an explanation. Anyway, we will meet the NGOs tonight to discuss our next move in light of this development," she said.

Dataran only for 'national events'

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has also objected to the Bersih 3.0 sit-in being held at Dataran Merdeka, on grounds that the iconic location is not the place for “politics and dissent”.

   

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail said the rejection was in line with DBKL’s policy to reject such activities. He had earlier said the square could only be used for “national events”.

The committee had shot down this excuse, saying that Dataran Merdeka had been used for commercial events such as McDonald’s Olympic Day Fun Run (July 2011), Siemens Run (September 2011), OCBC Cycle Malaysia (October 2011), Achilles Formula Drift Malaysia (December 2011), Barisan Nasional Youth Ride Fest (February 2012) and the World Kidney Day Run (March 2012).

The steering committee is to meet tonight to discuss the police rejection letter and to decide whether to hold the sit-in at an alternative site.

NONE Earlier today, Bersih committee member Subramaniam Pillay said tonight’s meeting was called following Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein's advice that the rally be held at Stadium Merdeka or Stadium Bukit Jalil, with the consent of the managements.

However, steering committee co-chairperson A Samad Said has said that he and Ambiga Sreenevasan were steadfast about holding the peaceful sit-in at Dataran Merdeka.

"We are of the opinion that Dataran Merdeka belongs to the people," Samad said, speaking on behalf of Ambiga, who was not present during the press conference today.

“We are only asking for a few hours. After all, Hishammuddin already said Bersih is not dangerous and will have no impact . So why are they now creating an issue?” posed the national laureate, who went on to add that committee would collectively decide the matter.

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