SHAH ALAM, 2 Jan: The Reduce the Cost of Living Assembly (Turun), which was allegedly tarnishing the country’s democratic system, is describes as a ‘mischievous imagination’ of the police when they likened it to those in Thailand and Egypt.
The Member of Parliament for Bukit Katil, Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, said that the assembly in the capital was not intended to overthrow the government as claimed; instead it is to focus on calls to reduce the price of goods.
He said that the people, in general, respect the country democratic system, especially in the 13th General Election (GE13), although the process was not transparent.
“We are all aware of the democratic process in Malaysia, especially in the General Election (GE) which passed despite cheating and so on.
“But after the election, no one tried to change the government through a system other than that using a democratic process.
“Therefore, the claim by the police is wrong, bad and shows that they have lost focus because, of those who were present during the assembly, 50 percent of them were the young people who were angry with the unreasonable actions by the government against the people,” he told Selangor Kini.
He said that the police should be more focused on fighting against crime and not label the people who took part in this demonstration as criminals because it is allowed under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
He said that the police have no evidence or reason to claim that this assembly is to overthrow Barisan Nasional (BN) as the rulers of the country.
“We are a country that practices parliamentary democracy, using the elections to change the government. So it would be ridiculous for us to use Thailand’s approach to overthrow the government.
“I hope that the police are also not sensitive to the word ‘overthrow’ because it is not a criminal word. The people have the right to hold rallies freely without fear,” he added.
Previously, the Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Director, Datuk Seri Salleh Mat Rashid, said that the Turun Assembly which was organised was a mask for certain quarters to tarnish the country’s democratic system like in Thailand and Egypt.
He said that the assembly was deliberately held as the beginning of a broader agenda and it is said to be linked to the last general election.
