Putrajaya responsible for police handling of Bersih, says law expert

Constitutional expert Professor Abdul Aziz Bari said today that “the buck stops
 with the government” over the police's response to the July 9 Bersih rally.

KUALA LUMPUR,  A constitutional expert has criticised the government for blaming the police for the way the Bersih rally was handled, saying today Putrajaya should be held responsible for the public fallout over the matter as police officers had acted strictly under government orders.

Professor Abdul Aziz Bari said that Malaysia practised a Westminister model of democracy, whereby Article 43 (3) of the Federal Constitution dictates that the police force answers to no one but the government of the day.

“The government cannot blame the police in the Bersih issue. The police force is part of the public service and this, in turn, is under the care of the executive, namely the government of the day.

Bersih considers legal action against recalcitrant EC

Appalled by how the Election Commission (EC) has dealt with irregularities exposed in the electoral roll, Bersih 2.0 is considering taking it to court.

Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan has little doubt that the EC's knee-jerk reaction to arbitrarily delete or amend voters' details is anything but legal.
"I'm not sure they can actually do that - just remove names and put names and change things. They will say they are operating under regulations that entitle them to correct clerical errors,” she said.

What to make of EO6′s link to Bersih?

In 1974, Malaysia and China established diplomatic ties. There is a famous picture of the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdul Razak Hussein, shaking hands with Chairman Mao Zedong, the Communist revolutionary and strategist who established the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Chairman Mao and the Communist Party of China are widely known to be the inspiration and source of support for the Communist Party of Malaya.

In 2009, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak met with President Hu Jintao of the Communist Party of China on cooperation in trade and investment.

Every year, representatives of the Communist Party of Cuba are invited to and attend the Umno general assembly in Kuala Lumpur.

Najib: Still trying to excuse U-turn on the Bersih Stadium.

Prime Minister Najib Razak disclosed today he had thought of the Shah Alam stadium for the July 9 rally when he made offered a venue to Bersih, pointing out this was “the best option” available.

The prime minister, however, had never specified which stadium Bersih could hold the July 9 rally at when he made the offer.

“I offered a stadium. You can show dissent in a stadium, but they still wanted to do it on the streets.

Bersih hijacked by "other groups and individuals", says Johor Queen

Almost 3 weeks after the Bersih 2.0 rally, the debate over the event still continues with a key member of royal family saying today that the electoral reform movement "had in someway been hijacked" by other groups and individuals.

Johor Sultanah Raja Zarith Sofia Sultan Idris Shah, said though the original cause of Bersih rally was genuine, it had been taken over by others.

"They had in someway been hijacked by other groups and individuals... the original idea about general elections and the transparency of general elections were lost," she said.

AG to gun after Anwar, Mat Sabu and Ambiga in Bersih round-up

The Attorney-General's Chambers today confirmed that it has received investigation papers (IPs) on several opposition leaders and Bersih 2.0 leaders from the police to look into the possibility of charging them for their involvement in the July 9 rally calling for electoral reform.

Those named also include PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, whom police are investigating for an allegedly false report he lodged stating that a police vehicle had collided with the motorcycle he was on.

Kuala Lumpur prosecution head Raja Rozela Raja Toran, when contacted, also confirmed the list includes opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Batu MP Tian Chua and Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Police vow transparency in Bersih probe

KL’s top cop says investigators will cooperate with Suhakam in probe into alleged brutality against July 9 marchers.

KUALA LUMPUR:  Police have promised to be fair and transparent in investigating allegations of brutality against participants in Bersih’s July 9 rally.

“We want to find out if there has been any fault on our side,” said Amar Singh, the acting chief of Kuala Lumpur police.

“We’re looking at the execution of duty, how we did our work. Whether it was done properly, whether everything was within the ambit of law and whether there was abuse.

Bersih hands over memo to King

The Bersih's eight-point memorandum was delivered to the palace on Friday by two members of the steering committee.

KUALA LUMPUR: Election watchdog Bersih 2.0 has finally delivered its eight-point memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Richard Yeoh and Liau Kok Fah, members of the Bersih 2.0 steering committee, gave the memorandum to an aide of the King’s private secretary on Friday afternoon.

“The memorandum called for electoral reforms,” Liau told FMT today.

Bersih 2.0’s eight-point memorandum calls for a cleaning of the electoral roll, the reformation of the postal ballot, using indelible ink, a minimum of 21 days for campaigning, free and fair access to media, the strengthening of public institutions such as the Election Commission, and putting a stop to corruption and dirty politics.

It also calls for the release of the six leaders of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), including Member of Parliament Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, who has been detained under the Emergency Ordinance.

The Bersih 2.0 rally held on July 9 saw tens of thousands people dressed in yellow taking to the streets to call for fair electoral processes.

However, the Bersih steering committee members were not able to march to the palace to deliver their memorandum as they had been arrested earlier by the police.

Maths puts Bersih crowd at 45,000 to 50,000

A research firm using tweets, photos has charted a way to measure just how many people turned up at the 'Walk for Democracy' rally.

PETALING JAYA: Crowd estimates for the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally are almost as contentious as the rally itself. Various figures have been bandied about. Just about everybody has their own estimation – the organisers, police and the media.

Mahathir is responsible for Bersih

An Australian researcher believes that Mahathir's elimination of a level political playing field created a need for a movement like Bersih.

PETALING JAYA: An Australian political researcher has credited former premier, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, for the formation of the Bersih and Bersih 2.0 coalitions.

In an interview with ABC Radio Australia yesterday, Greg Lopez of the Australian National University (ANU) bluntly stated that Mahathir had “virtually destroyed any check and balance available” during his lengthy reign.

“He put the judiciary, police and royalty under Umno so that it was just impossible for the opposition to have any fair go at winning an election,” Lopez said. “And this (conclusion) is born of numerous studies conducted at the ANU and in many other countries. It is a fact.”

UN condemns Najib administration for "excessive" crackdown on Bersih

The United Nations has condemned Prime Minister Najib Razak's crackdown on the Bersih 2.0 rally  as "excessive", also expressing diappointment and "alarm" at the targeting of individuals in the run-up to the July 9 citizens march for free and fair elections.

"We are very concerned by the recent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators by the government in Malaysia," AFP reported Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as saying.

Tali leher logo Bersih dijual di Dun S’gor

Tali leher berlogo Bersih itu dijual dengan harga RM15 di lobi Bangunan Annex ketika sidang Dun berhenti rehat tengah hari tadi.

DUN SELANGOR

SHAH ALAM: Bahang Bersih 2.0 masih belum reda apabila para penyokong kerajaan negeri menjalankan kempen penjualan tali leher berwarna kuning simbolik kepada perhimpunan 9 Julai itu ketika sidang Dewan Undangan Negeri (Dun) Selangor berlangsung di sini hari ini.

Religious leaders rebuke Najib for lack of understanding, compassion to Bersih

An interfaith group has rebuked the Najib administration for not dealing with the high-profile Bersih 2.0 rally with "understanding, compassion, honesty and respect", adding that if it had done do, the "untoward events" could have been prevented.

Najib clinker: Umno Youth's illegal rally against Bersih on his orders

Prime Minister Najib Razak dropped a clinker on Sunday, exhibiting the famed political 'clumsiness' that he has been widely accused of. After previously insisting UMNO Youth was acting on its own and would face grave consequences if it insisted on going through with a counter-march against the Bersih 2.0 rally, Najib admitted sending in the wing to do so.

Bersih rally an eye-opener: BN loses big, GE-13 now seen in 2012

In the shadow of the Bersih rally, BN sees a haunting presentiment of its own defeat. Yet, in their fear of an Arab Spring spreading to Malaysia, they may have lit the fuse of a Malaysian Spring.

Bersih Coverage Gallery

Sebahagian gambar gambar yang diambil disekitar perhimpunan Bersih 2.0