Opposition provides 3,000 security aides for Bersih 4.0
Judging from the 35,000 yellow Bersih 4.0 T-shirts sold out within a few days, one can safely say that probably 70 percent of those who bought the yellow T-shirts will be attending the Bersih 4.0 rally this weekend.
Zakiah Koya, The Heat Online
This means tens of thousands of people will be on the streets at any point of time throughout the rally which is planned to last 34 hours. That is a statistical nightmare for any rally organiser in terms of security, especially when the authorities have stated that they have no right to hold the rally.
Bersih 2.0, the organiser of Bersih 4.0 rally, has sought the opposition political parties to help out in providing security because they have trained units in crowd control.
Although some may question the wisdom in bringing political parties into the people’s rally, political parties involved in providing security say they are there as Bersih protesters first and political parties second.
“We take orders from Bersih 2.0 as they are the organisers. We are merely assisting and we wait for their instructions. DAP has been doing this since the second Bersih rally,” says Ng Tian Chee, who has been put in charge by DAP to provide security for Bersih.
Ng, who is also the state assemblyman of Balakong, says DAP will bring its Special Action Force, which has 500 DAP members from nationwide.
“The team is an experienced one and has been mostly involved in charity and social work, such as when helping out the flood victims in the east coast last year. Its duty is mainly to keep everything in order and follow our strategies in case things get out of hand. Of course, I cannot reveal our strategies here,” says Ng.
He says although the team has not undergone any sort of formal training, the members know what to do.
“The members have all attended all the rallies and they have been given briefings. DAP, along with Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) of PKR and Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) will all report to Bersih 2.0,” says Ng.
When asked whether he foresees provocation this time round, as is wont to happen in rallies, Ng says it is possible but he hopes that all Bersih protesters would behave accordingly.
GHB has said more than 500 of its members will help out during Bersih 4.0. These are ex-members of the PAS’ Unit Amal, which are specially trained for crowd control. The team is called Arif, which stands for Angkatan Relief.
GHB leader Mohamad Sabu says the opposition altogether will send about 3,000 to help out in security matters.
Bersih 2.0 has also said there will be more than 1,000 volunteers in charge of security during the 34 hours. All of them are being given basic training and briefings, mainly in dealing with provocateurs.
