The Bersih movement began in 2007 to urge clean and fair elections in Malaysia. Since then, three mass rallies have been held, with the number of participants reaching as high as 250,000 on April 29, 2012. Considering Malaysia’s chequered history of democratic struggle and the politics of fear, it is indeed no small feat that the movement has successfully planted in the minds of many the idea that street rallies are part and parcel of a healthy and mature democracy.
Lest one forgets, the theme that ran consistently through these highly significant street protests has been nothing other than clean and fair elections. In other words, a government that has ‘won’ an election through trickery, vote-rigging and blatant bribery is devoid of legitimacy, plain and simple.
Now that we know RM2.6 billion had been channeled into Najib Abdul Razak’s personal accounts just before the 13th general election in May 2013, as confirmed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), there is every reason to believe that this astronomical amount of money was meant to save Barisan Nasional - and Umno in particular - from a potential defeat.
Najib himself has done nothing to clear the air, other than reiterating that the money was not for ‘personal gain’ and issuing a hilarious ‘legal letter’ to The Wall Street Journal ‘asking for explanations’. In fact, he now has the nerve to argue that the MACC has cleared him of corruption claims.
This aside, Najib has resorted to extra-constitutional measures to stay in power, the abrupt sacking of the attorney-general being the most shocking.
Nur Jazlan Mohamed, chairperson of the public accounts committee, has been coopted into the government, the special task force on the 1MDB scandal has been disbanded, while efforts have been made to ensure the MACC and Bank Negara would toe the line, not to mention the suspension orders against the Edge Financial Daily and the Edge Weekly.
If there is one single person who is now the biggest stumbling block to any substantive and meaningful change in Malaysian politics, it is Najib, Najib and Najib.
Hence, it is right and proper for the Bersih 4 rally to be focused on Najib the 2.6 billion Man, for he clearly used unethical and questionable means to secure a win in 2013.
While I agree getting rid of Najib will not immediately solve all the problems confronting the country right now - if anything, it could even benefit the conservative faction within Umno that is closely linked to Mahathir Mohamad - but it is strategically imperative that we capitalise on the public sentiment against the current government over the 1MDB fiasco, the hidden sources of the RM2.6 billion as well as the falling currency to ensure a massive turnout.
There are others who are wary that a rallying call such as ‘Undur Najib’ would alienate Umno supporters. Still, we have seen very clearly from 1998 that those who still put their trust in Umno have never supported any socio-political movement for change. So why worry over whether too ‘radical’ a slogan would put them off from Bersih 4? We can just count them out and write them off, concentrating our effort on mobilising the potential participants instead.
Fought on an unequal footing
We are of course allowed to dwell on the negative sentiment that all that we had done prior to May 2013 came to naught, but not for too long. After all, while the Najib regime did make certain concessions (such as the abolition of the notorious Internal Security Act), the last electoral battle was fought predominantly on an unequal footing with all the odds against us. It is precisely for this reason that we must go all out against Najib once again.
A paltry turnout for Bersih 4 would mean Malaysia has no issue with a leader who is shamelessly corrupt and is seeking to bring the country back to the political darkness under Mahathir, or worse.
Our absence from Bersih 4 would also indicate our failure to stand up for our legitimate rights and to acknowledge all those brave souls who have been fighting relentlessly against a rotten regime to reclaim Malaysia, including Anwar Ibrahim who is languishing in jail while pondering on the country’s democratic future, the journalists behind the Edge and Sarawak Report, the oppositionists and all those who have risked multiple arrests to take to the streets on our behalf.
Of course, we would also have lost a golden opportunity to tell Hadi Awang of PAS in his face that this time, we have made it without you.
Most important of all, what would we have to tell the future generations when questioned on why we had allowed the Najib regime to go on?
I do want a peaceful rally, but it can only happen if we are ready to fight for it. If we can’t even make up our mind for Bersih 4, we may as well forget the tall order for a real democracy in our lifetime.
JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.
