INTERVIEW | Electoral watchdog Bersih played a major role in bringing the fight for clean electoral politics into the mainstream with its peaceful street protests and helped transform the country’s dominant single-party system.

While former leaders Ambiga Sreenevasan and Maria Chin Abdullah were its most public faces, the story of Thomas Fann is also intertwined with that of Bersih’s journey.

In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, Fann recalled how on Nov 19, 2016, he was the overall commander of the Bersih 5.0 rally at a time when Maria had been arrested a day before.

It left the movement without clear leadership and Fann stepped up, guiding operations via walkie-talkie from the 22nd floor of a hotel in the KL city centre.

The demonstrators’ original destination was Dataran Merdeka but the police had blocked the route. After a call informing him of the situation on the ground, he decided to use a diversionary tactic to break through the blockade.

Fann directed demonstrators near Masjid Negara...