Ku Nan: No permit for red shirts if they march
Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has instructed the KL City Hall (DBKL) mayor not to grant permission for the red shirts rally to use its venues if it is to turn into a street demonstration.
However, Tengku Adnan, who is also Umno secretary-general, said the red shirts rally can be considered if they agree to hold it at a venue such as a stadium.
"As far as the rally is concerned, we may consider if it is held in a contained place,” The Star Online quoted Tengku Adnan saying.
He added Dataran Merdeka will be off limits and marches from Bukit Bintang or Chow Kit will also not be allowed.
"If the organisers want to use Padang Merbok or other stadiums, they must submit an application. But we will not allow them to use Dataran Merdeka.
"We saw what happened at the Bersih rally. It is not the culture of Malaysians to wipe pictures of leaders using brooms, spit or step on these pictures,” he said.
Red shirts seeing double?
Today National Silat Federation (Pesaka), touted to be one of the red shirt rally organisers, have now distanced themselves from the planned march and stated their willingness to hold their rally in a confined area.
The planned marched is largely spearheaded by Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunos who had dubbed it as ' Himpunan Maruah Melayu ' (Gathering to defend Malay dignity) .
However, Pesaka insists its own rally is called ' Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu ' (People's solidarity gathering).
Meanwhile, Umno executive secretary Ab Rauf Yusoh confirmed he had sent a letter to state Umno executive secretaries for preparation of the 'Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu' since last week.
This was in reference to a letter dated Sept 1 which called for a meeting to discuss preparations for the rally at Umno's headquarters.
"It is true, the meeting was held as a preparation if the organisers invited us," Free Malaysia Today quoted him saying.
This was despite Umno president Najib Abdul Razak initially claiming the party was not involved in the rally, but members were free to join on their own free will.
In addition, Bernama report quoted Umno Supreme Council member Abdul Aziz Kaprawi who said the party did not stop any of its members from joining the rally as it was a manifestation of solidarity for the government's leadership.
However, he reminded Umno members planning to join the rally to be on their "best bahaviour" and not engage in any provocative acts as had been done by some participants of the Bersih rally.
Abdul Aziz, who is also Deputy Transport Minister, was speaking to reporters after flagging a '#sehatisejiwa' treasure hunt for the Sri Gading parliamentary constituency, in conjunction with the National Day celebrations in Batu Pahat today.
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