Foreign media praises rally marchers, condemns govt
By Patrick Lee, FMT
PETALING JAYA: Foreign media organisations have praised the “bersih spirit” and roundly condemned the government’s handling of the July 9 Bersih 2.0 (Coalition for Free and Fair Elections) rally.
They wrote that the Bersih rally was a demand for democracy and Malaysia’s search for a true identity.
The protests, which saw about 15,000 people take to the streets of Kuala Lumpur and thousands more across the world, were described by Saudi-based Al-Arabiya website as “an Arab Spring copycat … at first glance”.
The Al-Arabiya editorial by Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario added that Malaysia’s rallies could not be compared to the unrest currently taking place in the Middle East.
“The culture of protest goes much further back in Malaysian history to resistance against British efforts at colonially-inspired modernization,” she wrote.
Rosario said that the Bersih “spirit” was similar to that of Indonesia and the Philippines when the latters “threw off the yoke of colonialism”.
“This weekend’s protest in KL is but the latest episode in Malaysia’s search for its true political identity,” she said.
“Today’s calls for electoral reform and an end to corruption in Malaysia echo the yearnings of the struggle since the 19th century for a better deal with their government.”
Malaysia’s government however, Rosario said, seemed to employ the same tactics as its counterparts in the Middle East; “under the guise of … law and order”.
In the run-up to the rally, multiple Bersih supporters were arrested. The organisation was declared illegal, and their requests to use Stadium Merdeka were refused.
The KL rally was soon met with heavy-handed police action. Tear gas and water cannons were deployed to chase protestors from the streets.
More than 1,600 rally-goers were arrested before the day was up. One man also died from heart complications.
Good for the Opposition
These factors, according to the Wall Street Journal-Asia, were a boon for Malaysia’s opposition, Pakatan Rakyat.
A report entitled “Malaysia Protest Lifts Opposition” said that the anti-Bersih crackdown did not bode well for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s administration.
