Large crowds have turned out in protests in major cities on peninsular Malaysia in response to a general election marred by allegations of irregularities and vote-buying.
In the central state of Selangor, some 100,000 thronged a stadium in the first major protest three days after the May 5 polls. Thousands more attended a simultaneous protest at the Rusila Mosque in Terengganu on the peninsula’s east coast. These were followed by another large turnout of close to 100,000 at another stadium, in the northern state of Penang, on May 11.
On Sunday night, some 30,000 crammed into the streets of Ipoh, the capital of the state of Perak, for yet another rally. More rallies are expected this week, including in Johor Bahru in the south and Kuantan on the east coast of the peninsula. Smaller groups of Malaysians have congregated in cities abroad, including in Melbourne, Taiwan, and Singapore.
At all the rallies participants have dressed in black to symbolize a democracy “blackout”. The de facto Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leader Anwar Ibrahim and other coalition politicians have made several rousing speeches decrying fraud and irregularities at the polls. They have also made their case with international audiences, including in interviews with big global broadcasters.
Full article on Asia Times Online.
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There is a tacit relationship between our taxes and our votes. The rakyat agrees to pay the salaries of the government of the day if they were popularly elected. If the government cheated to remain in power by manipulating the electoral process then what we have is an illegitimate government – In this regard the rakyat has the right to withhold their income tax….
The majority of people have spoken. They pick BN as their gomen for another 5 years. Yahooo !!!
133 Parliament seats won by BN vs 89 by Pakatan. Anil can go back kindergarden to sudy basic math. I wonder how you pass a degree in accountancy ???
BN without Chinese support also OK. I suggest that BN gomen to shift their focus entirely to Malay, Indian and Bumiputra. Only Malay, Indian and Bumiputra subscribe to “I help you, you help me” principle, so they deserved more attention. The others, let them alone.
The naivete of Malaysians in assuming that all was fine all these decdes is astounding. Perhaps you should do a survey on this along the lines of: “Have Malaysian elections always been significantly flawed by cheating on the part of the BN and Alliance government? Yes/No/Only in specific elections”