Bersih rally : a yearning for change

The people have spoken,do the politicians have the will?

November 10 was a victorious day for all Malaysians. It was a day when more than 40,000 people of all ethnic groups, all age groups and from all walks of life, took to the streets to demand for electoral reforms for fair and free elections. At a time when race relations are under tremendous strain, this was indeed a rare occasion when all races forgot their diverse ethnic origins and came together as a single Malaysian race. It was a rare opportunity for all Malaysians to share in the common brotherhood of our beloved nation.

What was more amazing was that despite their numbers and the obstacles created by the police, the rally was largely peaceful. People came in the thousands, marched to the palace, delivered the memorandum to the King and finally dispersed peacefully. No major untoward incidents were reported. We salute the organizers, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) for the wonderful job well planned and executed peacefully.

On the eve of the rally, the Prime Minister,Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, warned the people not to challenge his authority. It is unfortunate Pak Lah, who is known for his soft nature, has taken a confrontational attitude, like his predecessor, towards the people who were expressing their views on something so important - free and fair elections, the basic pre-requisite for a true democracy.

The rally was neither anti-government nor intended to topple the leadership, like in other neighboring countries. It was to express the people’s disenchantment of the way our Election Commission (EC) conducts the general elections. The EC is seen to be strongly pro-government and unfair to the opposition. There has been unfair delineation of electoral boundaries whereby opposition strongholds are unfairly represented. Then there is the issue of phantom and postal voters, all reserved for the ruling party.

Furthermore the ruling party blatantly abuses the government machinery and all available logistics to campaign for their candidates. They have total monopoly over the national print and electronic media. As far as memory takes us we have never seen opposition leaders on television. Even the major newspapers hardly carry any message by the opposition. This is total contrast to what we see in countries like United States,Britain and even India, where all political parties have equal access to the mass media in their campaigns to reach out to the masses.

Nobody is challenging the Prime Minister or the government. Nobody is trying to topple the government that has been duly elected. All we ask for is to ensure the elections are conducted in a fair and free manner, where the opposition is treated equally as the ruling party. Equal opportunities should be given to them to reach the rakyat.Is asking for these rights as provided for in the Constitution an unfair demand that constitutes a challenge to the authority of the Prime Minister and his government?

The government dismisses without tangible reason the rally as illegal and accuses the organizers for having caused a lot of hardship for the people. There were massive traffic jams that could have caused inconvenience to the people. Business too could have been adversely affected. At the same time no person with a sane mind would want to inconvenience himself to participate in demonstrations that also pose tremendous risk to him as well.

It must be stressed that it was the attitude of the government that made this demonstration necessary. If only the government adopted a more conciliatory approach to the problems posed by the people, this rally would have never been necessary. If only the government accepted the right to dissent and made avenues available for its expression, why should people resort to street demonstrations?

If only the government can meet the people's demands in a spirit of cordial dialogue, there would be no tension whatsoever. The police instead of ensuring the people's gathering goes on peacefully have unfortunately also taken a combative attitude against the very people whom they are tasked to protect.

Despite all these obstacles and risks the people came and they really came in droves. They braved the heavy downpour and the intimidating tactics of the police to join in the massive expression of displeasure with the EC. For every one person who turned up in front of Istana Negara, there would be scores of others who could not be present for some reason or another.

The government should be wise not ignore the massive voices of dissent against its policies, especially from the younger generation. It should take this mammoth rally as a wake-up call that many things are not right and take steps to right the wrongs.

The younger generation of Malaysians is fed up of race politics and is yearning for changes, changes to make our country at par with other democracies in the world. It is time for our leaders to reflect on the words of the one of the greatest politicians of all times, Abraham Lincoln, “You can fool some people all the time, all the people some time but you cannot fool all the people all the time”

The people have spoken and they have indicated they want a change for the better. Now it is up to the political leaders to effect those changes. The leaders of the major opposition parties, PKR,PAS and DAP must stop their internal bickering. They should put aside the religious and racial issues that divide the people and unite on the numerous common grouses we face as Malaysians. There are plenty of such grouses at stake – corruption, abuse of power, disgraced judiciary, ineffective police force, lackadaisical civil service, escalating cost of living, increasing crime rate and so on, which should unite us in our struggle to free our country from the clutches of these evils that are threatening to become our national cultures.

The Opposition has been given a second opportunity to mount a reasonable challenge against the ruling BN, at least to deny them a two-third majority in parliament. They should not allow this golden opportunity to elude by petty squabbles among them like in 1999.That would only benefit the mighty BN.

It may be timely they unite to form a opposition coalition and contest under a common banner and led by a leader acceptable to all parties. At present there is no doubt that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim(DSAI) appears to that leader. With is vast experience in politics and the humiliation that he was subjected to, he would have gained the wisdom to guide the opposition in the right direction. It would also be wise for DSAI to refrain from contesting in the coming election so that he can concentrate on uniting the opposition. He should be an icon for the united opposition party.

The ball is at the feet of our political leaders of opposition parties. Are they willing to rise up to the occasion and put the interests of the nation above their own? Their answer will determine the destiny of our nation.We hope and pray our leaders will not let us down.

Dr.Chris Anthony