Organiser picks Merdeka Stadium for July 9 rally

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KUALA LUMPUR:  The organiser of the July 9 rally seeking electoral reform plans to hold the gathering in the Merdeka Stadium, and has given the assurance of cooperation to ensure a peaceful event. 

Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, chairman of the organising committee, said the Merdeka Stadium was picked because it was well served by public transportation and was a strategic place for a public meeting as well as facilitated police control.

“We ask the police, City Hall and others not to impose any restriction on the people who wish to attend the gathering at the stadium at 2 pm (on that day),” she told a news conference here today.

“We are prepared to extend cooperation to any quarters to ensure that the gathering is peaceful and smooth,” she said.

Ambiga said the decision to select the stadium was reached at a meeting last night, which also considered the fact that the stadium could accommodate about 50,000 people at any one time.

Replying to a question, Ambiga said they had yet to apply for a permit to hold the gathering but added that they would contact the police and the relevant authorities on the matter.

She also said that they were ready to meet with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for further discussions on the gathering.

Ambiga had an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the Istana Negara yesterday, and agreed to hold the rally at a stadium instead of staging a street demonstration.

She said that after the rally of about two hours, 10 representatives of the organiser would proceed to the Istana Negara to hand over a protest memorandum and their demand to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

The demand is for the Election Commission (EC) to clean up the polls register, reform postal voting, use indelible ink, allow free and fair media access, have a minimum 21-day campaign period, strengthen public institutions, stamp out corruption and cease dirty politics.

“We are also asking for a royal commission of inquiry to be set up to look into weaknesses in the existing electoral process and propose improvements,” she said.

They were also seeking the release of six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists, including Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, who were arrested in Penang recently under the Emergency Ordinance on suspicion of being involved with subversive elements.

On Sunday, Tuanku Mizan issued a special statement saying that demonstrations would bring more harm than good even though the original intention of doing so might be good. – Bernama