Apart from rain and jam-packed roads, the participants also braved a police warning that the opposition had not acquired the necessary permission to hold the rally at the Kelana Jaya stadium in Selangor. The three-hour peaceful rally ended without any incidents and Mr Anwar told reporters that there would be more to come.
Separately, a group dressed in black also gathered near the Merlion in Singapore last night, holding placards with messages about the Malaysia elections. A participant told TODAY that the gathering started at about 8pm — to coincide with the rally in Malaysia. He claimed that as many as 200 people turned up, before plainclothes police officers broke up the gathering and confiscated some of the placards.
He added that the gathering was “peaceful” and people who turned up were responding to a call on social media for Malaysians around the world to show solidarity with their countrymen at the rally in Selangor.
The Singapore police said late last night they were looking into the incident. “We are trying to establish the facts of the case,” a spokesman said.
At the rally in Selangor, Mr Anwar took a dig at Utusan Malaysia’s front-page headline on Tuesday, “Apa lagi Cina mahu? (What else do the Chinese want?)” and declared that the people of Malaysia, regardless of race, want free and fair elections.
Speaking to reporters after the rally, Mr Anwar said he was impressed by the spontaneous turnout despite the rally only being called on Monday.
“I would not quit until we reach Putrajaya, until we expose all (fraud) and claim Putrajaya for the rakyat. They deserved it as we, Pakatan, won the popular vote,” he said.
Mr Anwar said that there would be another rally on Saturday in Penang, while the opposition is still considering holding one in Ipoh tomorrow.
Hours before the rally in Malaysia, the government said in a statement that Mr Anwar had “deliberately refused to apply for permission for his protest and deliberately chosen a small stadium to ensure it will spill onto the streets”. It add that the protest was “calculated to create unrest”.
The police also said it would not hesitate to “take action” against the organiser and the speakers if the rally violated Malaysia’s sedition laws that forbid inciting social disorder. Selangor Police Chief Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah reiterated that the rally was “illegal” and that arrests could be made because the protest violates the Peaceful Assembly Act. “The organisers blatantly disregard the requirements of the law,” he told Bloomberg.
Mr Rafizi Ramli, Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s strategic director, said the group had informed the police and the demonstration complied with the law. “The basis of informing them is for them to help with the traffic,” he said.
No security forces were spotted at the stadium. With no traffic police guiding traffic, civilians took it upon themselves to help unclog the roads.
On Sunday, the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition won 133 of 222 parliamentary seats — its worst showing in 13 straight election wins since Malaysia gained independence in 1957. BN won 47 per cent of all votes for parliamentary seats in an election with a record turnout, compared with 51 per cent for Mr Anwar’s coalition, Election Commission data showed. The Pakatan Rakyat won 89 parliamentary seats.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Najib’s office rejected parts of a report released by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a group accredited by the Election Commission to observe the vote, saying it “strays far outside the original mandate.”
The group, known as IDEAS, said yesterday the election was “only partially free and not fair”.
While the campaign period proceeded “without any major glitches”, wider issues such as media bias and unequal constituency sizes gave an advantage to Mr Najib’s coalition.
Meanwhile, the White House yesterday congratulated Mr Najib on his coalition’s election victory but urged the government to address concerns about election irregularities.
“We note concerns regarding reported irregularities in the conduct of the election, and believe it is important that Malaysian authorities address concerns that have been raised,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. “We look forward to the outcome of their investigations.” AGENCIES
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