BERSIH 2.0 asserts that we have fulfilled all the necessary requirements under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 to hold the BERSIH 5 rally in Kuala Lumpur on 19 November 2016.
On the 28 October 2016, BERSIH 2.0 delivered the 10-day notice required under Section 9 of the PAA 2012 by hand to PDRM headquarters in Bukit Aman, IPD Dang Wangi, IPD Brickfields, and IPK KL. The notice is to inform the authorities that the BERSIH 5 rally will be held on 19 November from 10am to 6pm. We would like to stress that it is not a permit or permission to hold the rally.
No permit for a peaceful rally is required under the PAA 2012.
Our adherence to the PAA 2012 also extends to all our BERSIH convoys which have been running every weekend since 1 October 2012. BERSIH have submitted notices for each and every one and we have proof of our actions. On that account, the IGP Khalid Abu Bakar’s statement that we have not submitted notices for our convoys is false and we request that he withdraw his baseless allegations.
BERSIH 2.0 would also like to point out that the Home Ministry does not have the power to ban BERSIH (or the red shirts), as Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi suggested. The ministry has no jurisdiction under the PAA 2012 or the Societies Act 1966 to do so and the ban would be unconstitutional.
In case the deputy prime minister has forgotten, the issue of BERSIH not being registered in the Registrar of Societies (RoS) was already brought up in 2012. The Home Minister at the time, Hishamuddin Hussein’s, decision to declare BERSIH 2.0 an illegal organisation was quashed by the High Court. The judge Justice Rohana Yusof said that the decision was “tainted with irrationality”. (http://www.thestar.com.my/
BERSIH 2.0 would also like to assure KL mayor Mohamad Amin Nordin Abd Aziz that we are complying with DBKL’s order and have no intention of entering Dataran Merdeka. We will, however, “stubbornly” go on with our rally in the vicinity of the area.
BERSIH 2.0 decries the authorities’ desperate attempts to defuse the BERSIH convoy and the BERSIH 5 rally. The issue on the notices, the deputy prime minister’s irrational ban, and the KL mayor’s uninformed statement all serve to villify BERSIH and intimidate the rakyat into withdrawing their attendance from our activities.
This is yet another diversionary tactic to turn the people’s attention away from important issues: the grand corruption of Najib’s supposed “donation” channelled into his personal account and misappropriation of massive public funds through 1MDB to fund GE13 and more pressingly, the current unconstitutional redelineation exercise led by the EC which may determine a voting pattern that favours one dominant political party.
This 19 November, BERSIH 5 seeks to highlight these very real issues that are plaguing the country and demand for a more accountable and more democractic government to ensure abuse of power on such a grand scale will not happen again.
We urge fellow Malaysians join us for the #BERSIH 5 rally in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu to demand for clean elections, a clean government, strong parliamentary democracy, right to dissent, and the empowerment of Sabah and Sarawak. Because we deserve a better Malaysia.
Not protesting is no longer an option.
Signed by BERSIH 2.0 Steering Committee members