48 NGOs to take part in PJ rally

(The Star) – Organisers of a planned rally here said some 48 non-governmental organisations and civil society bodies are expected to take part in the gathering on Saturday.

Spokesman Badrul Hisham Shaharin said the gathering, at the city council field next to the Amcorp Mall, would raise claims of electoral frauds of the recent GE13.

He added that it would not pre-empt the efforts of some political parties challenging the polls results.

When asked if the police had been notified of the proposed Pesta Suara Rakyat gathering, he merely said “it was under control”.

“We are going to the streets not to overthrow the government or cause chaos but to demand that democratic rights be returned to the people,” Badrul Hisham, also known as blogger Chegubard, told a press conference here yesterday.

The defeated PKR candidate for the Sungai Acheh state seat in Penang said the gathering would call for the resignation of Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and his team to pave the way for a new committee answerable to Parliament.

He said another demand was for fresh elections to be held in seats where fraud was allegedly evident and a third demand was for all parties to support the formation of a people’s tribunal to gather information of electoral irregularities.

On allegations the Opposition was leaning towards a “Malaysian Spring”, he said it was merely psychological war by the authorities against the people.