KUALA LUMPUR: The police have taken measures to prevent an attempt by certain quarters to mobilise ‘Arab Spring’-like street demonstrations to disrupt the smooth running of the 13th General Election today, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said yesterday.
He said the police had seized small triangular flags planted at certain locations in the federal capital to probably indicate the venues for the people to gather to participate in the demonstrations.
“The police believe the small flags are linked to the attempt to mobilise the ‘Arab Spring’-like demonstrations in the country.
“We will act against those who attempt to start the so-called ‘Malaysia Spring’ in the attempt to emulate what had happened in the Middle East,” he told a news conference at Bukit Aman, here.
Khalid said the police had begun an investigation into the matter and called on those responsible to stop inviting the public to join the so-called ‘Malaysia Spring’.
“This is an irresponsible, undemocratic act because we are about to run an important democratic process in our country.
Even before we have conducted the democratic process, there are quarters trying to instigate the people to revolt,” he said.
Asked about the small packages, indicated to contain explosives, found in several places in the Klang Valley on Friday, Khalid said it was an attempt to instil fear in the people and prevent them from coming out to vote today.
He said a directive had been issued to every state chief police officer to set up a special patrol team, uniformed or otherwise, to look out for irresponsible acts.
“Our analysis shows that the so-called explosives we found and recovered are aimed at instilling fear in the people because they were nothing more than home-made items produced using fire crackers,” he said.
On Friday police found several packages suspected to be home-made explosives in Jinjang, Puchong and Petaling Jaya, and confirmed that they were made of material used in the making of fire crackers.
Khalid said the police would not hesitate to act against those who cause trouble today.
Police officers to be stationed at polling centres had been briefed to keep an eye on individuals who tried to inspect the identity cards of the public, he said.
He said the police would not favour any political party and would be professional in discharging their duty.
“Let not anyone accuse the police of this and that.
We will ensure that the democratic process will be carried out fairly,” he said.
He also reminded political parties which won the election not to go on victory parades and those which lost not to express their protest.
“We will not issue permits for victory parades or protest gatherings after the results are announced tomorrow (today).
They should receive the results in a gentlemanly manner,” he said. — Bernama