Organisers of the May 1 rally have been called up by the Dang Wangi police over the planned rally against price hikes and the goods and services tax.

 

PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan ( right ) and PKR vice president Tian Chua were served notice to be present at the Dang Wangi district police station at 2.30pm today.

 

The May Day mammoth rally is meant to stop the government from going ahead with the GST which is planned to be introduced at 6 percent on Apr 1, 2015.

 

The Bill was passed by the Dewan Rakyat without amendment earlier this month.

Speaking to reporters later, Arutchelvan said he met Kuala Lumpur Public Order department chief SAC Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid and Dang Wangi OCPD Zainuddin Ahmad during the meeting.
 
Tian was not present. It is understood that he will join other Pakatan Rakyat leaders such as Mohamad Sabu and Dr Hatta Ramli who are scheduled to appear on April 21.

Much depends on police discretion

 
Arutchelvan said that he had explained to the police that the rally would take place at KLCC at 2pm and would last for an hour before participants march towards Dataran Merdeka.
 
However, he said the police had warned him that "street protests" are not permitted by the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and that the police had sought an alternative venue because Dataran Merdeka is closed for renovations.
 
"We (rally organisers) will discuss about (police) concerns later. For now, our final rally point is Dataran Merdeka... We gave our promise that the march will be peaceful." he said.
 
He said that the police had also reminded him about other details of the law - such as the barring of participation by children and the need to seek permission from property owners.
 
"But if we really look at the Act, there is no where we can gather. KLCC is next to a mosque... So the police have to use their discretion and facilitate our rally.
 
"There has been many rallies without permits before and the police allow it to happen," he said.

Arutchelvan did applaud the police for being proactive in calling rally organisers for a meeting. Under the Act, organisers must provide the police with a 10-day notice.