‘Pakatan behind Dec 31 rally to topple govt’
Awang Selamat trumps the police by using his intuition to determine that Pakatan Rakyat is organising the ‘Rally to Topple Government’
Anisah Shukry, FMT
While police remain stumped over the organisers behind the Dec 31 rally ‘Himpunan Guling Kerajaan (Rally to Topple Government), Umno-owned daily Mingguan Malaysia has managed to identify the opposition pact as the masterminds.
Guided by “intuition” (firasat), Awang Selamat – the pseudonym used by the collective editors of Mingguan Malaysia – claimed Pakatan Rakyat was organising the rally to stage a revolution.
“After failing to overthrow the government though democratic means and the ballot box, their strategy turns one again to revolution…
“At this point, no leaders of the opposition party have come forward to associate themselves with the rally, but many can already guess who the masterminds are,” said Awang Selamat in his weekly column in Mingguan Malaysia.
Awang Selamat outlined the opposition pact’s alleged strategy for the rally. He claimed Dec 31 was chosen to take advantage of the crowds gathered in Dataran Merdeka to usher in the new year.
“Thus, the foreign media will report how the assembly garnered extraordinary support from the rakyat. That is what certain opposition leaders want, in order to compel foreign countries to interfere and put pressure on the Malaysian government.”
Awang Selamat added that the organisers wished to emulate the anti-government rallies in Thailand, which had eventually forced the neighbouring country to dissolve its Parliament.
“Apart from that, the mastermind wishes to add fuel to the fire by capitalising on the rakyat’s sentiments towards the issues of the electricity tariff and toll hike.”
Police investigations
But Awang Selamat conceded that he, too, was unhappy with the rise in toll and electricity rates, although he stressed that holding a rally would only worsen the situation.
“Revolution is not the answer. If it was the best answer, it would be better if a rally was planned to overthrow the state governments of Selangor and Penang for their many faults,” he suggested as an alternative.
