Malaysia's police force is "the most tolerant in the world", Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed declared today.
"No other country in the world has a police force that is as tolerant as Malaysia's," the three-week-old deputy minister and former Public Accounts Committee chairperson said, in voicing his support for the police's decision to ban the Bersih 4 rally.
"Bersih should respect the police. The police are responsible for the safety of the people. They were given powers by the government to enforce the law.
"No other country in the world has a police force that is as tolerant as the Malaysian police," Nur Jazlan told reporters at Perdana Felda, The Star Online reported today.
Holding the rally, he said, would disrupt preparations for the Merdeka Day celebrations and he cited the dress rehearsals to commemorate the country's national independence that would be held on those two days of the rally.
"If Bersih decides to continue demonstrating in the same venues, it will disturb the preparations and incur big cost on the police.
"The police have to control not only demonstrators, but also participants who will be rehearsing for the Merdeka Day celebrations," he explained.
Nur Jazlan, who is the MP for Pulai, said taking part in the rally would not be a measure of one's patriotism to the country.
"In my opinion, Malaysians are patriotic in their own way. Not wanting to participate in the rally does not make them unpatriotic,” Nur Jazlan is quoted as saying.
Earlier, Kuala Lumpur mayor Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz said the iconic Dataran Merdeka and Padang Merbok are off limits to participants in the Aug 29-30 Bersih 4 rally.
Amin said Dataran Merdeka was being used for preparations and rehearsals ahead of the Merdeka Day Parade, and Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah has agreed not to disrupt this.
DBKL also recommended that the rally be held a week after Merdeka Day celebrations on Aug 31.
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