DAP 100% behind Bersih’s Nov 10 outing

By DAP Teresa Kok on 6th November 2007 at Parliament Lobby

DAP fully supports BERSIH People’s Gathering on 10 Nov 2007

This is to announce that leaders and members of DAP, led by Secretary-General Sdr. Lim Guan Eng, will take part in the BERSIH People’s Gathering on this Saturday, 10th November at Dataran Merdeka.

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Sdr. Lim Kit Siang will also attend the gathering.

As an endorsee of BERSIH, DAP supports the key immediate demands of BERSIH, viz:

* The use of indelible ink to prevent double-voting;
* The abolishment of postal votes;
* Clean-up of the electoral roll;
* Equal and fair access to national media.

DAP also supports BERSIH’s demand for a longer campaign period – minimum 21 days – to provide the citizenry sufficient time to choose the government and representatives they prefer.

As I understand, members of the BERSIH Steering Committee have met with the Chief Police Officer of Kuala Lumpur and, separately, briefed the Special Branch Chief of Dang Wangi Police District on the event.

We commend the sensible responses of the Police thus far, including the KL CPO’s denial in issuing a statement which said that “a permit would never be granted”.

DAP urges the Police to herald a new era by adopting a paradigm shift that will see the Police cooperating with participants of public gatherings to safeguard their fundamental freedom of expression.

To put it crudely, if Burma, the most repressive regime in the world, “tolerated” public gatherings for two consecutive weeks before the harsh crackdown, it is hard to see why the Malaysian authorities cannot stomach a four-hour peaceful gathering.

I invite members of public who are concerned about the state of democracy of the country can turn up in full force to support a worthy and noble cause, i.e. electoral reform.

As yellow is the designated protest colour, participants are encouraged to wear yellow items of clothing, armband or a ribbon from today until Saturday, 10 Nov.

Teresa Kok