Bersih to seek audience with King, willing to cancel rally
(The Malaysian Insider) – In an unexpected turn of events today, Bersih 2.0 pledged to abide by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s advice, saying it will seek an audience with him before Saturday and call off the rally if told to do so.
The group’s steering committee chairman, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who had just returned from a meeting with former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi this morning, made the announcement at a press conference here in the afternoon and revealed that the decision was reached during an emergency meeting held last night after the King released his statement.
“Bersih 2.0 offers its deep appreciation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for his support on the people’s aspiration to reform the election system.
“Bersih 2.0 will abide by his majesty’s advice to hold a dialogue towards achieving a consensus on electoral reform and the development of democracy in Malaysia,” she said, reading from a statement.
Ambiga added that Bersih 2.0 will write in to the palace today to seek an audience with the King.
She declined to say if the rally was officially called off as the King had said last night that street demonstrations brought more harm than good but stressed that an official announcement would be made once a meeting was set up.
Asked if she would call off the rally on request from the constitutional monarch, Ambiga said: “Yes.”
She reiterated that Bersih’s steering committee members had already agreed on its next move during last night’s meeting but wanted first to inform the King before making its decision public, out of respect to the royal institution.
Should the King refuse an audience, however, Ambiga declined to say if the rally would proceed as planned. Instead, she repeated that an announcement would be made “at that stage” and urged the media not to speculate.
Ambiga, however, agreed that Bersih’s final decision would depend on the Agong’s advice. “Yes, yes, absolutely,” she said.
