Malaysia activists move rally after king intervenes

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s king made a rare intervention in politics to urge an electoral reform group to call off its street protest, an official said Tuesday, over fears it could spark riots.

“We met the king to explain our position and following the discussions we have decided to call off the street protest for July 9,” Zaid Kamaruddin of the Bersih 2.0 group told AFP.

“As a compromise, we are now going to hold the rally in a stadium,” he said.

The group, whose name means “clean”, had planned to march to the constitutional monarch’s palace in the capital to hand over a memorandum to press for clean and fair elections.

The activists sought a meeting after King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin warned on state media late Sunday that demands for democracy should not destroy the country and “we as a civilised society must resolve it through consultations, and not follow our emotions.”

The rally is to demand the Election Commission makes changes including the use of indelible ink to prevent voter fraud during elections.

The protest is backed by opposition parties who have vowed to mobilise their supporters as analysts predict snap polls could be held by early 2012.

The planned rally sparked fresh political tensions after the youth wing of the ruling United Malays National Organisation and Malay rights group Perkasa said they would hold a counter-protest on the same day.

Meanwhile, police said they seized two caches of Molotov cocktails, 20 swords and T-shirts bearing the word “Bersih” in the capital Kuala Lumpur and in Gombak suburb, just north of the capital on Monday.

They have also arrested six members of the Socialist Party of Malaysia under the Emergency Ordinance, which allows indefinite detention without trial in relation to the rally. Fresh elections are required under Malaysian law by 2013.

Organisers of the rally had previously refused to back down, saying the right to assemble is enshrined in the constitution despite Bersih, a collection of 62 non-governmental organisations, being declared illegal.

Bersih’s last big rally was in November 2007, when an estimated 50,000 people took to the streets.