Bersih rally a public awakening

By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider

BANGI, July 11 — The most significant thing to come out of the Bersih 2.0 rally was not the state’s reaction to it, but the public’s realisation that they held the power to transform the way the government of the day administrates the country.

Social scientist Datuk Shamsul Amri Baharuddin told reporters today the Bersih 2.0 rally on Saturday had stirred the middleclass into action by building on the momentum from the previous Bersih street rally on November 16, 2007.

He noted that the civil society movement was itself born from the Reformasi campaign triggered in 1998 when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from government.

“For them, it’s [previously been] ‘I can vote who I want. Now, can I say what I want?’” he highlighted, and explained that many already realised that their votes matter in the electoral sense, to transform the government.

“The question is: Is there a public space I can do this?” he quizzed, rhetorically.

“Yes and no. They can do it, not on the road but other spaces, yes,” he said, answering his own question.

The academic noted that while the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition has faltered in the eyes of the public, it did not quite fail when it mobilised public institutions, notably the police force, to clamp down on civil society.

“I would not say that,” he said.

In his view, the ruling coalition now has an advantage in that they knew the ground sentiment with a certainty.

“The only thing is how they use it to evaluate their next step,” he said.

“Bersih has done them a favour and allowed them to know what they want without them asking for it.

“We are going to see more, this is not the last. It’s not about the opposition. People are getting braver but also reasonable and rational,” said Shamsul Amri.

“If I were in power, the first thing I would do, I’d organise them, hold townhall meetings, give them drink and food,” he said.

He noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s walkabout the day after the public rally for electoral reform had many implications, notably to show that Malaysians were by and large a rational group not spurred to act impulsively and join street demonstrations.

He pointed to the PM’s speech on silat practitioners rising up to defend Islam when questioned.

“Don’t get caught up in the script. He was addressing Anwar and the opposition [party]. The world can pick up on it,” when asked if Najib’s provocative statement could hurt the BN’s image further.