AMBIGA, "BERSIH" AND THE RULE OF LAW

Both Ambiga and Samad (left) insist that Bersih 3.0 must be held at Dataran Merdeka. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — The Bersih 3.0 rally must be held at Dataran Merdeka as there is too little time to change the venue, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said today.

The Bersih co-chairman told The Malaysian Insider that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had “no basis” to reject Bersih’s request to have its event there, and pledged to co-operate with the police as well as DBKL for this coming Saturday’s sit-in.

“I sincerely believe that there can be no objections to Dataran Merdeka (being the venue for Bersih 3.0) and we will co operate fully with the authorities for a smooth gathering, as well as DBKL.

“I have no mandate to change the venue without consulting the endorsing NGOs,” she said in a text message.

“We will have to go back to them but the problem we have is that we have very little time to make changes,” she added.

Ambiga’s co-chairman, Datuk A. Samad Said, echoed her words, saying that the rally must be held at Dataran Merdeka and nowhere else.

He stressed that the electoral reforms group should not be pressured into accepting other venues for the rally.

“We still want Dataran Merdeka. I will discuss with Ambiga about the location, but we still want Dataran Merdeka,” the national literary icon told The Malaysian Insider.

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) recently rejected Bersih’s request to hold the rally at the historic square on April 28, saying that the venue was only for “national-level events.”

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today DBKL should offer alternative venues for Bersih 3.0 if it does not want the rally to be held at Dataran Merdeka, and suggested Stadium Merdeka as an option.

He stressed that the electoral reforms group should be allowed to have a “peaceful assembly”, and previously added that the government does not see the rally as a “security threat” — a far cry from Putrajaya’s attitude in locking down the capital city at the last rally.

But Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah was a little more tentative, saying that the various NGOs under the Bersih umbrella would have to meet before deciding on their next move.

“We will meet tomorrow night to discuss and make an announcement on Tuesday,” she toldThe Malaysian Insider.

She said that Bersih would also be meeting the police tomorrow at 3pm to discuss traffic logistics for the protest.

I find it highly disturbing that we have Malaysian's like Ambiga Sreenevasan and Datuk A Samad Said who is bloody arrogant and has a blatant disregard to the rule of law in this country. The government has made it very clear that Bersih has to obtain approval from DBKL if it wants to use Dataran Merdeka as its venue. Since DBKL has not approved the application and requested Bersih to find another alternative, the Bersih committee should start looking around for another venue. 

Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has been very clear from the beginning that Bersih is not a problem and is not a national security issue. If the Home Minister is able to accomodate Bersih, why can't Bersih and Ambiga Sreenevasan accomodate the government? 

Ambiga is a lawyer, who is well aware of the laws in this country and she is now going against the law just to bulldoze her agenda. This is highly disrespectful to the authorities in this country. What is wrong in having the "sit in"  in a stadium like Shah Alam which could accomodate 80,000 people? 

My question to my readers is this, should Ambiga follow the laws of this country like us normal citizens or be allowed to break the laws according to her whims and fancy?