In a bid to take the shine of Bersih official launch due later tonight, self-appointed "war general" Ibrahim Ali threatened to turn Kuala Lumpur into a sea of blood on July 9 if his wishes were not heeded.
“Imagine if chaos erupts. If the Bersih rally is not cancelled. I believe the Chinese community will have to stock up on food,” the Perkasa chief told a crowd of some 500 supporters in Kuala Lumpur.
He and Perkasa members had burned an effigy of Bersih president, Ambiga Sreenevasan.
“Yes, anything can happen. And so I ask the police to act and use whatever powers are at their disposal.”
But instead of fear, the only response he elicited were calls for his arrests, rude names for his lack of intellectual substance and sighs of exasperation for the crudity of his behavior.
"The first person to be arrested should be him," MP for Gopeng Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle. "I am not surprised he would use May 13 as a bogeyman. Firstly, he has limited knowledge, so for him May 13 is the reference point for evrything. Secondly, it actually indicates his links to Najib and Mahathir."
The Najib and Mahathir connection
The portly Ibrahim Ali, known for his high-pitched and high-volume rhetoric, is close to former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who is the Perkasa founder. May 13, 1969, was a day of racial riots that left hundreds of Chinese dead in the streets of Kuala Lumpur after Malay leaders from UMNO provoked inter-communal violence.
Najib's father, second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, was accused of triggering the incident so as to oust the then-prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Despite May 13 being a black day for Malaysia and Najib's professed wishes for racial unity as expressed by his 1 Malaysia slogan, he has not lifted a finger stop Ibrahim's ranting.
Meanwhile, Bersih - a coalition of 62 NGOs - is holding its launch at the KL Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall at No. 1, Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur at 8.30 pm tonight. It has invited all Malaysians to attend give their views on the rally.
"BERSIH 2.0 emphasises once again that the Perhimpunan BERSIH 2.0 is purely a civil society initiative and we have invited other organisations including political parties from all sides of the political divide to join us in upholding democracy and calling for electoral reform," its organising committee said in a statement on Saturday.
"BERSIH 2.0 once again invites all interested Malaysians to attend and express their views at the Launch of Perhimpunan BERSIH 2.0 on 19th June 2011, during which we will explain further the 8 demands of BERSIH 2.0."
Vote for anyone except BN if Ibrahim not punished
PAS leaders have reassured Malaysians not to be put off by Ibrahim's "silly rhetoric". The Islamist party has promised free legal fees "all the way" should Perkasa and UMNO stir up trouble for protesters.
PAS has pledged to send 300,000 supporters.
"Don't waste time on that copy cat. He will be lucky to get even 1,000 supporters on that day," PAS MP for Bukit Gantang Nizar Jamaluddin told Malaysia Chronicle.
Nizar was referring to Ibrahim, who is also the Pasir Mas MP. Even BN politicians such as Nazri Aziz have tagged him as a "clown".
Pakatan leaders say that if no action was taken against Ibrahim and Perkasa, then Malaysians - especially the Chinese - must ensure that they voted for anyone other than the BN at the coming general election, which is widely expected to be held within months.
