KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 – The participants of Bersih 4 around Dataran Merdeka here not only disrupt preparations for the National Day celebrations but also damage part of the landscape. Supporters rally, which did not budge despite heavy rain at 4pm, also stepped flowerbeds than trample saplings.
Around 4.30 pm, when the rain stopped, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad seen mingling with the protesters at the Central Market. The former prime minister, who arrived on LRT, told a press conference later that he was at the rally was not as Bersih supporters, but as a supporter of all Malaysians.
Up to 7 pm, most of the demonstrators had left the Central Market. The number of those gathered around Dataran Merdeka continued to increase and a Bersih leader said: “We will be here until midnight as planned.” Meanwhile, Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Zainol Samah said police made no arrests so far in Kuala Lumpur and added: “The organizers have made the ‘undertakings’ that the protestors would disperse at midnight.”
The Bersih 4 rally for two days declared by the police as illegal is organized by electoral reform group that among other things requires the election free and fair, and a clean government. In Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, rally organizers to stop each on Saturday at midnight and at midday on Sunday. Among the reasons given was the lack of response and most participants bring children. The authorities do not allow children to attend the rally venue.
