S Pathmawathy | May 21, 2012 Malaysiakini
Bersih, the coalition for clean and fair elections, will continue with its nationwide roadshow despite a recent threat, co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan said today.
“It was targeted at me, but nothing will change. Our campaign is about voter education and it will go on,” she said when contacted today.
Ambiga had been told to stay away from an event in Merlimau, Malacca, last Saturday after a number of local pressure groups lodged police reports objecting to her presence.
A group of angry individuals later pelted two DAP state assemblypersons and supporters with eggs and stones.
“In fact, acts like this are also part and parcel of voter education – it allows voters to make decisions as to whether this is the kind of Malaysia they want to live in. (It) allows them to decide if this is the kind of institution they want to vote for.”
Ambiga, a former Bar Council head, has been repeatedly admonished for having led two mass rallies – on July 9, 2011 and on April 28 this year – calling for a revamp of the election system.
On May 10, a group of petty traders set up a burger stall outside her house, in protest of the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28 which, they claimed, had caused them financial losses.
Last week, members of the Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Association bent over and shook their buttocks in the direction of Ambiga’s house, saying she had smeared Malaysia’s good name.
When Ambiga condemned this as an invasion of privacy and called on the police to act, deputy police federal chief Khalid Abu Bakar said it was not an offence and that the police need not interfere.
‘Losses yet to be quantified’
Ambiga also chided some 60 petty traders who plan to set up stalls in front of her house on Thursday and Friday, describing this as “intimidation”.
The Kuala Lumpur Petty Traders Action Council announced yesterday that the traders had suffered severe losses during the rally.
“The most interesting thing is – they (the traders) have yet to state their claims on their losses and their details,” said Ambiga, who had told the earlier group to take their claim to court.
She urged members of the public not to be distracted from Bersih’s goals to achieve clean and fair elections.
“The question remains whether we are going into the 13th general election without meaningful reforms to the system,” she said.