Thousands of anti-government protesters marched in Malaysia’s capital on Saturday demanding the resignation of the prime minister, Najib Razak, over his alleged involvement in a multibillion-dollar misappropriation scandal.
Clad in yellow shirts and unfazed by arrests of activists and opposition leaders just hours before the rally, protesters marched from various spots towards the heart of Kuala Lumpur amid tight security.
The mood among those gathered was festive, with drums and vuvuzelas heard along with speeches, songs and chants by participants calling for a clean Malaysia and people power.
The demonstration is unlikely to shake Najib, who has denied wrongdoing and weathered the crisis, consolidating power by cracking down on dissenters and curbing media groups and activists.
The head of pro-democracy group Bersih – the organisers of Saturday’s rally – was arrested on Friday, along with several other supporters of the demonstration, including opposition leaders and student activists. Police have said the Bersih rally is illegal.
“We are not here to bring down the country. We love this country! We are not here to tear down the government, we’re here to strengthen it,” the Bersih deputy chair, Shahrul Aman Shaari, told the crowds gathered at the National Mosque.
Another Bersih leader Hishamuddin Rais was arrested on Saturday at the protest area, with police also issuing warnings to other participants. State news agency Bernama said about 7,000 policemen will be on duty near the protest area.
“Our country is being governed by clowns and crooks. So I’m here to protest against our prime minister,” said artist Fahmi Reza, holding a poster of a clown-faced Najib.
In a speech uploaded on his website on Friday, Najib said the protesters were “a tool of the opposition”.
“Their movement is deceitful. It is clear that these street protests are in fact the opposition disguised as an independent NGO working to unseat a democratically elected government,” said Najib, who is in Peru to attend the Apec summit.
Azalina Othman Said, a minister in the prime minister’s department, on Saturday said it was unlawful for any party to try to unseat a democratically elected government via street protests.
Fears of clashes between Bersih and a pro-Najib group called the Red Shirts mounted this week after the latter threatened to target Bersih supporters.
The Red Shirts also rallied on Saturday, marching from the headquarters of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) party towards Dataran Merdeka, or Independence Square, where the Bersih rally is expected to converge. The Red Shirts’ rally has also been declared illegal. Jamal Yunos, an Umno member and leader of the Red Shirts, was arrested before the protests began.
A six-week campaign by Bersih ahead of the rally was marred by several violent confrontations with the Red Shirts, and anonymous death threats have been sent to the Bersih chairwoman, Maria Chin Abdullah.
Jamal has warned of a repeat of racial riots in 1969 that killed hundreds in clashes between Malays and ethnic Chinese.
Ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities formed the bulk of a similar rally of more than 200,000 organised by Bersih last year, after the Wall Street Journal reported that around $700m from state fund 1MDB was diverted into the personal bank account of the prime minister [1].
Najib ran into further trouble this year when lawsuits filed by the US Justice Department in July said over $3.5b was stolen from 1MDB, which was founded by Najib, and that some of those funds flowed into the accounts of “Malaysian Official 1”, whom US and Malaysian officials have identified as Najib.
Najib has taken steps that, critics say, aim to limit discussion of the scandal, such as sacking a deputy prime minister, replacing the attorney general, and suspending newspapers and blocking websites.
He retains significant support within Umno and from the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
* The Guardian. Saturday 19 November 2016 05.28 GMT Last modified on Saturday 19 November 2016 15.06 GMT:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/19/thousands-call-for-malaysian-prime-minister-najib-razak-to-quit
Pro-Government Malaysia protesters seek to shut news portal accused of trying to unseat scandal-hit PM
Najib Razak supporters say news site an ‘agent for foreign powers’ after grant from George Soros-backed fund emerges.
Hundreds of pro-government protesters in Malaysia have demanded the closure of independent news portal Malaysiakini, rallying against what they said was a foreign-backed attempt to usurp the prime minister, Najib Razak.
Dressed in red shirts, the demonstrators chanted “close down Malaysiakini” outside the company’s offices in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday in a largely peaceful gathering that lasted several hours.
Police prevented the group of about 500 people from entering Malaysiakini, an organisation that has reported extensively on a corruption scandal that has engulfed Najib.
Jamal Yunos, a member of the prime minister’s ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party, led the rally and vowed to “tear down” the offices. But after several hours in the street, the protesters left.
The demonstration was organised after documents leaked last month by whistleblower site DC leaks suggested Malaysiakini had received funds from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), set up by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros.
Soros is regarded with deep suspicion in Malaysia following accusations he deepened the devastating 1997-98 Asian financial crisis by selling the Malaysian ringgit short.
And Jamal said the OSF money was directed at influencing the next general election.
“Our demonstration today is very important for Malaysians so that we don’t allow Malaysiakini to be an agent for foreign powers,” he added.
OSF said it was non-partisan and proud to have supported civil society in Malaysia during the past decade. While it denied accusations it was supporting attempts to overthrow Najib, it said in a statement its grants were to “support justice, accountability and democratic practice around the world”.
Malaysiakini’s editor-in-chief, Steven Gan, said his portal had received a grant from OSF but it was very small. The bulk of Malaysiakini’s shares are owned by Gan and his co-founder, Premesh Chandran, he said. Twelve percent are owned by Malaysiakini staff, he added.
“When it comes to outsiders or even Malaysiakini shareholders influencing our editorial policy, that is completely impossible,” Gan said at a media conference. “Even I would it find it very hard to control the editorial policy of Malaysiakini.”
The leak said Malaysia’s biggest civil society group, Bersih, which seeks to reform the electoral system in Malaysia, had also received money from the foundation.
OSF said over 2011/2012 it provided small grants to Bersih, a coalition of about 80 non-governmental organisations tackling corruption.
Bersih, whose members wear yellow, have planned a rally for 19 November that will again call for Najib to step down over the graft allegations. The pro-Najib red shirt movement also has plans to rally that day, leading to concerns about potential clashes.
The Najib scandal emerged in July 2015 when media reports said investigators had found that nearly US$700m (£450m) from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund was transferred into the prime minister’s bank accounts.
The administration and its supporters have cracked down on the media and civil society groups, attempting to silence criticism of Najib’s alleged involvement
Najib, who founded 1MDB, has strongly denied any wrongdoing. In July, US prosecutors filed civil lawsuits alleging that 1MDB had been defrauded of more than $3.5bn. Najib was not mentioned as involved.
Although protest leader Jamal is a prominent member of UMNO, there was no indication the government organised the attempt to close Malaysiakini.
Malaysiakini editor Gan said Jamal had a right to hold a peaceful assembly. But he added: “Let them have their say. But they should also respect the right of others to speak their minds, too.”
Last month, the New-York based advocacy group Human Rights Watch released a report saying the government actions have signalled an ever-broadening crackdown on freedom of expression and assembly in the country.
The 40-page report, titled “Deepening the Culture of Fear: the Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Malaysia”, documented the government’s recent use of vaguely worded laws to criminalise peaceful speech and assembly.
“As Prime Minister Najib’s political fortunes fall, Malaysia’s intolerance of critical speech seems to rise,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Malaysia’s future as a rights-respecting nation shouldn’t become hostage to defending the Najib government’s reputation.”
Oliver Holmes south-east Asia correspondent
* The Guardian. Monday 7 November 2016 00.36 GMT Last modified on Monday 7 November 2016 00.38 GMT:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/07/malaysia-protesters-seek-to-shut-news-portal-accused-of-trying-to-unseat-scandal-hit-pm