Bersih 3.0 was announced by Ambiga in a reaction to a Parliamentary Select Committee poor and shoddy work that whitewashed the electoral reform demands of Bersih 2.0. Although 22 recommendations were made, no urgency was placed and neither a timeframe to execute. Lots of studies recommended and probably more reports to be made out of these studies and GE13 will be long over when these make their rounds.
To be clear, Bersih 3.0 is not a rally but a sit-in. It is themed as “Duduk Bantah” or sit-in protest and is scheduled to be held on Saturday 28 April. The primary location is Dataran Merdeka but will be simultaneously held in multiple locations across the country and overseas.
Nazri already came out saying that Dataran Merdeka is not considered an acceptable location under the newly passed Assembly Act 2011. The Government will be planning all their options to stop Bersih 3.0.
Will they do a crackdown before 28 April on people wearing yellow again? By the way, the declaration by Hishamuddin on yellow tshirts to be illegal has not been rescinded but was that declaration legal in the first place?
Will they lockdown Kuala Lumpur again? What options does the Government have? What options does Najib have?
For sure, Najib does not want to have a repeat of the international backlash which resulted from poor advice given to him. It is very bad publicity for his preparation of the impending GE.
But if he does not do anything to stop this sit-in protest, he could be cowed by a possible humongous hoard of Malaysians who will make their presence and demands felt around Malaysia and around the world.
What if Najib plays the statesman and accepts graciously the demands of Bersih 3.0 and tell them to behave and do it peacefully? He may not agree to true electoral reforms as demanded by Bersih but he can play his good guy role with a pretentious listening ear to Bersih and pay lip service to it.
Proud 2B Malaysian 