A Penang Gerakan leader's plan to monitor the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally created waves at the party's recent central working committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

In discussing the hot topic, Kedah Gerakan chief Cheah Soon Hai called for the party to take disciplinary action on human rights and legal bureau chief Baljit Singh for wanting to participate in the rally.

bersih launching crowdWhile Baljit insisted that he merely planned to monitor the rally with 10 other lawyers from the Bar Council, Malay and Chinese language media recently reported the possibility of sacking Baljit from the party.

When contacted today, Cheah, denied that any action would be taken against Baljit as "the party supports freedom of expression" and acknowledged Bersih's right to raise points on free and fair elections.

At a meeting on Saturday, the party suggested that Baljit call instead for a dialogue between all parties with the Election Commission and Bersih organisers.

Cheah added that Baljit may not be at the rally after all, now that the situation has become "worse", with Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim claiming that he can "tell" Bersih chief S Ambiga to halt the rally.

Anwar, who is PKR's defacto leader, said he would make the suggestion if Prime Minister Najib Razak can guarantee there would be free and fair elections.

"It is not worthwhile to waste so much resources to go to the rally. Looking at the situation now, with Anwar's latest comment, it gives the impression that Opposition is behind it," Cheah told Malaysiakini.

"No matter what Anwar says it will not satisfy everyone. In fact, the situation has become worse now," he added.

Things get messy

"It is better for all parties to sit down and dialogue. After all at the end of day, they will only come up with a memorandum, they can do this by discussing it among themselves," Cheah stressed.

ambiga at bersih launchAmbiga, on the other hand, ensures that the peaceful rally, which intends to hand over a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to support democracy through Election Commission (EC) reforms, "must go on."

Cheah had earlier criticized the mass gathering as a "slapstick comedy which is totally meaningless".

He said he felt that the event is part of Pakatan Rakyat's plot to create an illusion, mainly to give foreigners a false impression that Malaysian politics are a mess.

Meanwhile, Baljit confirmed he would still be joining the Bar Council to monitor the increasingly controversial rally, as several groups like Umno Youth and Malay rights pressure NGO Perkasa plan an opposing rally.

MCA has warned its members against joining the rally, while PAS has pledged to bring along 100,000 members to support the event deemed illegal by the police, who threatened to take action on the participants. 

Controlling the circus

Baljit predicts the whole event will turn into a "circus" forcing Ambiga to do damage control to correct the impression that the Opposition was not behind the gathering.

An event that started purely as an apolitical call for free and fair elections now will be also joined by Umno Youth and PAS, including "a clown" like Perkasa which has warned the Chinese to stock up food on that day, he added.

"This is clearly inciting racial sentiments while this group is aligned to Umno," he said.

Concurring with Cheah, Baljit said Anwar's statement yesterday didn't do Bersih any favours as it gave the impression that Pakatan is collaborating with the activists to organise the rally.

"So those who are truly seeking and support the issue of free and fair elections like the Bar Council, and me, the lawyers going there to monitor independently are caught in a dilemma," he added.

Baljit urged the EC to immediately "pull the handbrake" on the event so that all parties could sit down for a dialogue.

"At the end of the day, the losers are the ordinary citizens on the street," he quipped.

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