Going yellow with Bersih, but …
Our family will wear yellow on July 9 and continue to support Bersih. But we won’t be marching this time as the agenda for electoral reform has been diluted by hardcore Bersih supporters themselves. We are also not interested to be in the presence of Perkasa and Umno Youth, nor are we interested to march with PR leaders who have clearly undermined the leadership of Bersih and its legitimacy as a people’s movement.
Juana Jaafar, The Malaysian Insider
Elections are not free and fair in Malaysia. That’s a fact. And there’s no point trying to convince families like ours otherwise. In the last two elections we’ve had to remove our late uncle’s name from the electoral roll. He died in the 1970s. When we sought to lodge a police report for the recurring incident, the officer in charge said a report wasn’t necessary as it was a small matter. We had to insist.
In 2008 our mother, a traditional Shah Alam voter, suddenly found herself registered in Petaling Jaya. But she voted anyway to prevent the possibility of a “hantu” voting in her name. Under these circumstances, one can say families like ours are automatic supporters of the Bersih movement demanding for electoral reform. In fact in 2007, I represented my family at the Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur for this very reason.
On July 9 Bersih will march again because the Election Commission (EC) has not addressed the demands made in 2007. Given that almost four years, one general election and too many by-elections have gone by without reforms implemented, it is understandable that the organisers of Bersih have turned down the EC’s recent invitation to dialogue. It’s a little too late for talks now, so the march will go on.
All the usual noise has since surfaced, this time amplified by the use of social media. Going by noise alone it appears the march this year will be as big as the one in 2007, and maybe even bigger. The support for Bersih has intensified to the point where being a non-supporter is a very lonely place to be; perhaps even untrendy. This is quite different from the atmosphere in 2007.
What’s the difference between then and now? It is not the anti-Bersih spin and propaganda in the mainstream media. It is not the position and statements made by politicians. It is not the police’s decision to prioritise in protecting businesses over civil rights.
So what’s the difference? A tangent and a few other men.
It appears this year many young people are marching with Bersih out of general anger towards the government on issues extending beyond electoral reform. For many, issues like Aminulrasyid’s death, the submarine deal and Bible fiasco have crept into their Bersih wish-list. As these “extras” are Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) usual poster slogans, those who typically align with Barisan Nasional (BN) are choosing to opt out of the march. This was not the case in 2007 where many BN supporters also marched with Bersih on the principle of electoral reform (only to have PR leaders hijack the people’s march at Istana Negara).
