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| Southeast Asia | |
| Malaysia Opp grills govt on protest clampdown | |
| 2007-11-12 | |
MalaysiaÂ’s opposition and human rights groups on Sunday condemned authorities for attempting to suppress the biggest political rally in a decade with tear gas, water cannons and arrests.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had vowed to shut down Saturday’s rally, held to campaign for electoral reforms as the nation heads for polls expected to be held early next year. Police locked down the centre of Kuala Lumpur, throwing up roadblocks, searching vehicles and shutting demonstrators out of Independence Square where they had planned to gather. Despite the tactics and the use of tear gas and water cannons at one of the rallying points, 30,000 protesters marched to the royal palace where they were briefly addressed by dissident former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim. “Malaysians have spoken loud and clear,” said parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, part of an alliance of political parties and civil society groups which mounted the rally. Lim ridiculed the police chief for claiming that only 4,000 people attended the rally and criticised the government for what he said was an order to the media not to cover the event. “No newspaper dared to publish photographs of the mammoth peaceful gathering, which was a tribute to Malaysians for their love of peace and commitment to democracy,” he said. Sunday’s newspapers instead ran photos of the traffic jams that the roadblocks generated. Abdullah honour pledge: “Abdullah should honour his pledge when he became prime minister four years ago to listen to the truth from the people, however unpleasant, and to introduce institutional reforms for justice and democracy,” Lim said. | |
| Posted by:Fred |