In supporting anti-ISA rally, Pakatan hopes to regain momentum
PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has even decreed that it is not haram for Muslims to attend such a rally in an effort to whip up support among the members of the Islamist party.
By Leslie Lau, the Malaysian Insider
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party leaders are giving their full backing to a planned mammoth anti-ISA protest tomorrow which could see participants headed for a showdown with the police and a separate rally in support of the controversial law.
By giving their full backing to the rally, PR appears to be using the occasion in an attempt to once again raise the political temperatures in its bitter rivalry with the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
And in hoping for a big turnout, opposition leaders are hoping to put to the test Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s commitment to reforms.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has pledged to attend the rally, as have many other top PR leaders.
PAS leaders have said they are hoping to mobilise about 50,000 members to take part in the demonstrations.
PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has even decreed that it is not haram for Muslims to attend such a rally in an effort to whip up support among the members of the Islamist party.
In using the anti-ISA rally to raise the political temperature, the PR alliance will be hoping to put the Najib administration on the defensive once again.
Since Najib became PM in April, the BN coalition, and Umno in particular, has regained some momentum in the tussle for popular support among ordinary Malaysians.
Najib has scored higher than expected in approval ratings.
But the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock after being questioned by anti-graft officers recently has once again painted the BN administration in a negative light.
PR leaders have successfully seized the initiative again in portraying enforcement agencies such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police as “tools of BN”.
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