Careful when commenting on 'Turun' rally, Nik Nazmi tells govt

Summary

• Nik Nazmi cautions against trivialising grouses raised by “Turun Anwar” rally attendees on Saturday.

• Former minister also criticises qunut nazilah prayers against the Anwar Ibrahim-led administration.

Former PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad advised government leaders to be cautious when commenting about the recent “Turun Anwar” rally, or risk creating sympathy for the opposition.

This comes after Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming claimed that some 20 tonnes of rubbish were left behind following Saturday’s rally.

“When you make an issue out of something small like the amount of rubbish left behind, it can be interpreted as trivialising the genuine grievances felt by the rakyat.

“Plus, it could also be interpreted as giving a racial twist to the matter indirectly.

“That may not be the intention behind it, but politics is about perception, and this will create sympathy waves to the organiser and divert attention from the government’s openness and the opposition’s weak arguments,” he said on X.

‘20 tonnes of rubbish’

Two days ago, Nga told Dewan Rakyat that some 20 tonnes of rubbish were left behind following the rally.

However, Perikatan Nasional MP Awang Hashim questioned the accuracy of the figure during Question Time, saying it did not align with the police’s estimate of 18,000 attendees at the PAS-led protest.

“(The minister) said there were 20 tonnes, or 20,000kg of rubbish.

“If each person had only one mineral water bottle, to reach 20,000kg, there must have been 400,000 people,” Awang added.

While police put the crowd size at 18,000, rally organisers claimed there were 500,000 participants.

A Malaysiakini estimate based on on-the-ground observations placed the figure closer to 25,000.

Why qunut nazilah?

Nik Nazmi criticised Jasin MP Zulkifli Ismail for reciting the qunut nazilah prayers (praying for someone’s destruction) against the Anwar Ibrahim-led administration.

The action, Nik Nazmi added, had depicted the current administration as being against Islam, which is regrettable.

The former minister said that one should never coat political differences with rhetoric of hate, adding that political alliances could change depending on the circumstances.

“We never forgot how PAS used to pray for their foes’ destruction in the past, which included Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is now standing with them.

“And remember, PKR and DAP used to be their allies, but now they are labelled as enemies of Islam, with multiple reasons given to justify their political stand,” Nik Nazmi added.

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