Govt's Failed Attempt To Crush Mass Rally, "To 'Protect' The Public's Safety," Says Najib. Is This True?

Giving it the best spin he could, our revered DPM said with a straight face that the Government acted within the law of the land to protect the people's safety. He said that the measures taken were to ensure the 'best interest' of the rakyat were protected.

To me that sounds like Bull with a capital B. Najib was commenting on criticism over action taken by the authorities to disperse the crowd during the rally, especially after various foreign media, including Al Jazeera clearly exposed the excesses committed by the police.

Our DPM and spin doctor-in-chief further lied that "the government had to manage things in such a way that there would be continued confidence from the rakyat on the Government". How can they inspire confidence in the average Malaysian when the authorities tried their level best to clamp down on a peaceful march intended to highlight the people's lack of confidence in and suspicion of fraudulent electoral practices by the ruling party?

Thousands of demonstrators under the Bersih coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations and Opposition parties gathered at various parts of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday before marching to Istana Negara to present a memorandum calling for fair and free elections.

Najib added that such 'illegal' gatherings could also give 'troublemakers' an opportunity to cause unnecessary problems that could lead to violence. As far as the public is concerned the only troublemakers during the 10th of November rally were the cops who at the behest of the ruling party, sprayed chemicals and teargassed innocent unarmed civilians, in a brutal albeit futile attempt at suppressing their constitutional right of assembly.

Najib also appealed to the public not to participate in such events in future. He should understand that no one wants to take part in protest marches and assemblies, get beaten up or teargassed merely for the fun of it. If Najib does not wish to see such protests again, then the government should start practising what it preaches and should begin to act honestly instead of behaving like despotic criminals that some of our pemimpin are increasingly turning out to be.

Umno leaders should by now realise that the people are fed up with all the corruption, fraud and looting that many of them are even now engaged in, and no amount of force is going to alter public perception of the government. The leaders should reform themselves quickly or the time is not too far off when the winds of change will sweep them away like so much of filthy sampah.
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