'Are we to rally every day, week and month?'
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali today clarified that he had tweeted his disapproval of the Black 505 rally on Wednesday because he felt there were better ways to deal with electoral fraud.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali today clarified that he had tweeted his disapproval of the Black 505 rally on Wednesday because he felt there were better ways to deal with electoral fraud.
He told reporters that instead of rallying, what Pakatan Rakyat needs to do is to collect information of fraud on all its polling and counting agents and work towards election petitions.
"I am not against the right to assemble, this is enshrined in the constitution... but are we to rally every day, week and month?
"We should start working, and not be politicking too much as the next election is a few years ahead," Azmin ( left ) said.
He, however, added that his notable absence at the mammoth rally at the Kelana Jaya stadium was not due to a protest, but because he had "meetings".
"I did not attend as I had meetings with colleagues on this matter (the appointment of the Selangor menteri besar)... but I will attend other rallies," he stressed.
He also defended his tweets, which have been reported on by several media outlets, saying that he only called for self-reflection.
“Was I wrong? I did not speak out without basis. I said we should accept the people’s decision and do self-reflection first,” he said.
He also said that unlike in Umno, it is acceptable in PKR for constructive criticism to be made against leaders.
“But I did not name the
de facto
leader (Anwar Ibrahim) or any leader,” he said.
Azmin had prior to Wednesday’s rally, which attracted some 120,000 people, tweeted the following:
“Accept the people’s decision. Move on by caring for the rakyat for the sake of the nation’s prosperity, not by bullying them.
“The people are tired of over-politicking. Accept the punishment. Do self-reflection. Admit to faults. Move on. Concentrate on the rakyat and not just kin ( kerabat ).”
The speculation that something was amiss was first sparked by his tweets on Tuesday:
“Failure to reach Putrajaya, whose fault is it? Follow the explanations in the near future.
“The call for reform must start from the voice in your heart. Don’t drag the rakyat into it if we had failed ourselves.”
Meanwhile, Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia pro-tem president Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir (
left
) echoed Azmin in saying that Malaysians are "fed up with the never-ending politicking".
"(They) are hoping for us to put our act together and get on with the job of developing the country and the rakyat," he said in a statement.
Abdul Kadir noted that the results of the polls are not meaningless as with 51 percent of the votes, Pakatan Rakyat has strong credibility and can play a role as a robust and responsible opposition.
"At the same time, Pakatan should also oversee and closely monitor all the promises of the BN in its federal manifesto and also that of the states, and ensure that they are implemented sincerely irrespective of political belief and in the shortest possible time," he added.
On another note, police are investigating the rally organisers who allegedly contravened the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 for not notifying police ten days in advance prior to the rally.
Organisers only told the cops of their intention two days prior.
Police are also looking to haul in 28 Pakatan leaders who spoke at the event for alleged offenses under the Sedition Act 1948.
Seri Setia PKR assemblyperson Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was questioned by police at the Petaling Jaya police district headquarters today for his involvement in the rally.
According to Nik Nazmi's lawyer Eric Paulsen ( right ), the assemblyperson was questioned for offences under Section 9 of the Peaceful Assembly Act and Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act, decrying the investigation as politically motivated.
"The police instead of wasting valuable public resources should tackle real crimes (like corruption, robbery, sexual offences, etc.) instead of what are clearly politically motivated offences that only reinforces public perception that the police act at the behest of BN to harass, intimidate and persecute the opposition," said Paulsen, who is also the co-founder of human rights legal aid group Lawyers For Liberty.
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