Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali must take responsibility and apologise for the violence at last Saturday’s Bersih rally, the MCA Youth demanded today.

NONE In a press release, MCA Youth secretary-general Chai Kim Sen ( left ) called Azmin’s explanation that their hand gestures meant they were negotiating with the police a “lame excuse”.

He was referring to the April 28 Bersih rally, where a breach in the cordon surrounding Dataran Merdeka spurred the police to fire water cannons and tear gas canisters into the crowd of protesters.

Azmin yesterday had explained that the signals to Anwar were to indicate that he had tried to negotiate with the police on the scene.

However, Chai said that even if the two were being truthful, they should still have known better and anticipated the crowd to misinterpret their actions.

“Their claims that they were communicating with each other on negotiating with the police, even if it were true, could have been misunderstood by the crowd nearby,” he said.

Emphasising how excited crowds can be “easily influenced”, Chai said that such a misunderstanding would come as no surprise, owing to the sheer size and noise of the crowd.

Calling the duo “experts in deceiving crowds of supporters” Chai doubts that their explanations are genuine, saying they more likely decided to “avert responsibility” upon seeing the resulting violence and aggression.

“In fact, it would not be surprising if their excuse was only meant as an afterthought to escape any responsibility,” he added.

NONE Chai concluded that regardless of Anwar’s and Azmin’s statements, the reality was that the breaching of the cordon had caused the resulting violence and hence the duo must be the ones held responsible.

“(Anwar and Azmin) should own up and take responsibility for their actions and apologise to the police and to all Malaysians for causing the breaching of the barriers, whether directly or indirectly, which had then turned Bersih 3.0 into a bloody, vicious riot,” he declared.

Anwar, however, yesterday defended the protesters who had breached the cordon, although he stressed that neither he nor Azmin ordered them to act as such.