Politics 101 Malaysia

by Andrew Ong, malaysiakini, Nov 25.

Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar, has declared the movement’s rally today “a success” despite not being able to hand a petition to the British High Commission.

In addressing one of the last large group of Hindraf supporters to disperse from the rally, Uthayakumar, who is Hindraf’s most recognisable face, said the Indians had succeeded in sending their message regardless of the status of the petition.

“Despite the police attempts to torture us, we still manage to gather peacefully as united Indians. We have succeeded, the police have failed,” he told a crowd of nearly 2,000 supporters who clap and cheered whenever he finished a sentence.

Tear gas and chemical-laced water were fired on Hindraf supporters who defied police orders to disperse from the banned rally for nearly six hours. ”Continued”

I understand a handful of middle rank leaders of some political parties will be at the Hindraf rally today as observers and not participants.

The planned protest outside the British High Commission is to support a frivolous US4 trillion lawsuit against the poms to denounce what organisers say is the continuing discrimination of Indians in Malaysia.

Hindraf plans to submit a petition to the British mission asking the Crown to appoint a lawyer to represent ethnic Indian Malaysians in the lawsuit.

The tunnel vision reasons behind the rally has not attracted wide-spread support among any community.

By Sayed Salahuddin, Reuters

Malaysia’s biggest anti-government protest in a decade has ended in a cloud of tear gas, but one thing is now clear — the prime minister has a fight on his hands as he heads to the next election.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, expected to call a snap election in the next few months, had appeared to be cruising toward a second term in office until last weekend’s rally, which brought around 10,000 people onto the streets, calling for electoral reform.

It was the biggest protest since former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim led tens of thousands of people onto the streets of the capital in 1998, whipping up a “Reformasi” movement that went on to hurt the government at elections held the following year.

Abdullah’s coalition is in no real danger of losing office — he has a record majority and a peerless political machine — but political analysts say Saturday’s protest, and the prospect of more, could make him question the wisdom of an early poll. ”Continued”

AsiaSentinel, Nov 12.

Now that the biggest demonstrations in 10 years in Malaysia are over and the wounds are being bound up, clearly the big loser is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the winners are the opposition parties, and the most astute players in the drama are the country’s nine sultans.

The police put the demonstrators at 10,000, but pictures published by such websites as Malaysia Today showed numbers far in excess of that. The protesters put the figure at closer to 40,000. The protesters, headed by the leaders of the three opposition parties, defied government orders to march to the palace of the Yang di-pertuan Agong, Malaysia’s king, to deliver a petition asking for clean and fair elections. ”Continued”

1. Almost a month has lapsed since Suhakam promised to reconsider its decision not to hold a public inquiry into the Batu Buruk incident, and two months since the incident itself on 8 September 2007.

2. On 12 October 2007 when BERSIH submitted its protest note on Suhakam’s earlier decision which we considered an abdication of Suhakam’s responsibility, Commissioner Datuk N Siva Subramaniam assured BERSIH and the public that Suhakam would review its decision in an emergency meeting.

3. We pointed out that Suhakam’s current stand as to why it is not doing a public inquiry on Batu Burok would mean that all the police or any offending authority would have to do is, after committing human rights abuses, is to simply prosecute someone in connection with the incident and that would allow Suhakam to not proceed with any inquiry. This surely cannot be a rational view of the law. ”Continued”

by IMRAN IMTIAZ SHAH YACOB, AsiaSentinel, Nov 10

Central Kuala Lumpur turned chaotic today as baton-wielding riot police used water cannon and tear gas to try and thwart an attempt by tens of thousands of marchers to deliver a petition to Malaysia’s king, asking for royal intervention in delivering electoral reform.

“There is a massive jam all over town, as the police have set up road barricades everywhere,” a witness told Asia Sentinel in the morning. “A lot of entry points into the city are being monitored by the police. A heavy, heavy rain just subsided and one wonders whether this will dampen the turnout for the march.”

It didn’t. As many as 40,000 people struggled to make their way into the city center in defiance of the police ban on the rally before heading for the Istana Negara, the king’s palace. ”Continued”

The Bersih rally to present a electoral reform memo to the King has ended successfully.

While police were brutal initially, as soon as the 30,000 crowd marched within 200m of the Istana, the police backed off.

Protestors came from all over the country.

malaysiakini live report

UPDATED

Despite an almost complete lockdown of the city by police and with the rally venue Dataran Merdeka sealed off, thousands of protesters are congregating in Sogo department store, Masjid Jamek, Masjid Negara and Pasar Seni. [See map]

4.30pm: Most of the protestors are seen walking back to Masjid Negara and the traffic is at a standstill. About 20 people have been arrested earlier today and they are being held at Pudu police station. When they arrive at Masjid Negara, they were told to go home. Some of them are going to the Pudu police station to support those who were detained

4pm: The Bersih delegation led by Anwar Ibrahim handed the memorandum to the King’s representative at the gate of the Istana Negara. Anwar is accompanied by PAS’ Hadi Awang and Nasharuddin Mat Isa and DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng. The organisers are asking the 40,000-strong crowd to disperse. Nasharuddin describes the event as a resounding success. ”Continued”

By Jalil Hamid, Reuters, Nov 10.

Police in the Malaysian capital used water cannon on Saturday to disperse crowds gathering for a banned opposition rally demanding changes to the electoral system, witnesses said.

Police had effectively shut down the city centre to try and foil the rally, with hundreds of policemen, including riot police equipped with shields and batons, standing guard at Kuala Lumpur’s landmark Merdeka (Freedom) Square.

“Police sprayed water cannons twice to disperse a crowd of about 500 protesters chanting slogans,” said a Reuters witness who watched the incident outside a mosque guarded by about 50 riot police, while helicopters hovered overhead.

The crowds were among the tens of thousands of people who had planned to gather in the capital’s city square in one of Malaysia’s biggest anti-government rallies since 1998. ”Continued”