'Najib, in continuing to justify his unwarranted clampdown on Bersih, looks more and more shallow by the day.'
Umno leader: Bersih rally not like London riots
David Dass: This is a welcome view from Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.
Of course, the Bersih rally was not like the London riots. There was no burning of cars and buildings, there were no clashes with the police, there was no looting and there was no mugging of individuals.
It was a peaceful rally with a good objective. We should see our people for what they are. We should be proud of them. The rioters of London have brought much shame to their nation.
The Bersih demonstrators have brought much pride to the nation. Ours was a march for democracy. The rioters in London were participating in criminal acts. They were destroying their own neighborhoods.
There might be complex sociological-economic explanations for what happened but burning, mugging and looting cannot be justified for any reason.
Anonymous: Remember that the UK riots started when the authorities shot an unarmed man to death. That resulted in a rally, then the rioting that followed.
The ruling party and their cronies now want to harp about how they heroically saved the nation by beating up the peaceful Bersih demonstrators.
Well, IMO (in my humble opinion), if we look at the original cause and effect in the UK and make a comparison with Malaysia - since the government so insists on the comparison - then it is the IGP and BN who are the ones who should be on their knees and thankful that the rakyat have been so heroically tolerant of the shenanigans of Najib and Gang in the wake of the deaths of Altantuya Shaariibuu, Teoh Beng Hock, Sarbaini Ahmad, etc.
Indeed, the rakyat believe in taking the higher road than the IGP/BN. So be thankful, IGP, MACC, BN and all your ilk, that the rakyat are more tolerant of you than most others would be.
Confused: I don't believe that the government put its citizens in the same category as those hooligans in UK.
The government conveniently forgot those other demonstrations which were peacefully held in Malaysia. Why take the UK riots as an example when they know that it is totally different from Bersih?
Quigonbond: The simple truth of the matter is, if Bersih is bent on mayhem just like London rioters, would they have given the government ample and advance notice that they wish to hold a rally, and on top of that for a good cause?
PM Najib Razak, in continuing to justify his unwarranted clampdown on exercise of constitutional right of the people, looks more and more shallow by the day. One wonders what his upbringing, education and religious teachings have done to him to create such a dishonest intellect.
Soapbox23: Simply put, if the police and Rela can manage the vast crowd that turn up every year for the Merdeka celebrations, I simply don't see what the problem was with the Bersih 2.0 rally.
If BN was in favour of clean elections, they should joined in on a bipartisan stand to support what can only be good for our beloved Malaysia. Instead, they went on a riot that day, injuring the very people they were supposed to protect.
Brahman: Finally, an Umno man with guts and intelligence.
The frightening discovery is that "‘Saifuddin argued that Najib had always intended to allow the rally to take place in a stadium. But it didn't happen. And I won't comment beyond that,' he said."
Who made the PM change his mind? Is all the rumours true that PM is weak-minded and easily manipulated? Were the Umno warlords involved, especially their chief - the former PM?
So far all the decisions taken by Najib have come back to smack him, and not only Umno but BN.
AntiRacial: The BN government was the one, along with the police force, trying to turn the Bersih rally into riot by use excessive force on them.
BN was hoping Bersih members would react and chaos would happened and this would enable them to paint the demonstrators as troublemakers. Unfortunately, the reverse happened. Even with the inhuman and unlawful police action, none of the Bersih supporters damaged any public property.
Multi Racial: This should be the way. When the leaders did something wrong, the supporters should have the courage to speak up. What Saifuddin Abdullah said is the minimum expected of a politician from the people they represent.
Najib said that the BN supreme council had unanimously agreed that the London riots showed that the government's action to clamp down on Bersih 2.0 was justified.
Shame to all of them who are part of this decision. Bersih 2.0 is no London riot and they knew that. Their leaders just want to justify their action against Bersih 2.0 and conveniently compared it to the London riots.
These are the people who said the police did not attack Tung Shin Hospital in spite of overwhelming evidence. These are the people who dare to lie in front of millions of people without blinking their eyes.
Plastic Rose: Saifuddin Abdullah, you have truly emerged as the conscience of Umno by speaking your mind without fear or favour. If there are more such leaders in Umno, we may yet see real reforms in Umno for the betterment of Malaysia.
But alas, you seem to be the voice in the wilderness. You may not even be re-nominated to stand in GE13, knowing those small-minded leaders in your party. How sad.
1M: This man, Saifuddin Abdullah, earns my respect for two reasons:
1) His thinking is sensible
2) He dare to speak even though the PM had spoken otherwise.
I don't know what are his stand on other issues, but on this issue, I respect him. My question is, what is happening to MCA, MIC, Gerakan and Sabah/Sarawak ministers - don't they dare to speak even on this non-racial, non-religious, non-sensitive issue?
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