Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal Mohd Yunos has again threatened to hold a counter-demonstration against the Bersih 5 rally, this time describing the movement and its leader Maria Chin Abdullah, as an ‘opposition dog’.

“We know Bersih 5 is the opposition’s pet dog and we know Maria Chin is just a circus animal.

“Like a circus where the ringmaster is trying to put on a show, I consider Maria Chin to be the opposition’s circus animal that is barking like a dog that has just given birth.

“So I welcome Bersih’s arrival. Announce the date for the rally quickly, we are getting impatient with waiting. We are ready,” he told a press conference in Klang yesterday.

Maria Chin had previously announced that the Bersih 5 rally would be held in November. The exact date is to be announced at a Sept 14 press conference.

The rally is to pressure the government to take action against a certain individual codenamed ‘Malaysian Official 1’ in the US Department of Justice’s lawsuits on 1MDB on July 20.

The individual is said to be none other than Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, but Najib has consistently denied wrongdoing, while Malaysian attorney-general Mohd Apandi Ali has exonerated him.

Jamal had previously threatened to hold a counter-demonstration against the Bersih 5 rally, as it did about two weeks after last year’s Bersih 4 rally.

This time, he pledged to bring a multiracial crowd, in contrast to the predominantly Malay crowd of his last counter-demonstration.

He also said his group of ‘Red Shirts’ intend to gather at the same time and place as the Bersih 5 participants.

Reiterating his threat, Jamal said yesterday, “Bersih 5, don’t play the fool. I guarantee that when Bersih 5 comes, we will not hesitate.

“It is not that the Red Shirts are racist. We will come with a multiracial crowd and leaders. Many NGOs have said to me that they will oppose the hypocrisy that is Bersih 5,” he said.