A Walk for Merdeka

Today is the day. Bersih 2.0 is rallying Malaysians to a Walk for Democracy, for clean and fair election. And the venue, the Merdeka Stadium. The cries of Merdeka is going to scream through the air like the cries in 1957.

The Walk for Democracy was meant to be a street rally but strongly opposed by the BN and Perkasa. It took the Agong to intervene for a compromise venue inside the walls of a stadium. This is not to be with the BN sending the police to cordon off all roads leading to Merdeka.

At the same time Perkasa and UMNO Youth Wings, both branded as ultras with very strong Malay rights views are opposing the Bersih Rally. They wanted to hold counter rallies on the same day to march towards the Bersih gathering. Officially these were turned down. But they will continue with their march in one way or another as a show of force against Bersih supporters.

The undertone of their protests against Bersih is racial. They are accusing Bersih of splitting the Malay unity which was something furthest from the Bersih position. Bersih is calling for clean and fair election. What has this got to undermining Malay unity is only for the BN, Perkasa and UMNO Youth to interpret.

By all means, the Rally today is going to turn into a confrontation that can become ugly. The police are there to prevent the Rally from taking place, by order of the BN govt. So which side would the police take in a flare up or when the Bersih supporters approach the Merdeka Stadium?

Tension is rising in KL. The stronger the govt tries to stop the Rally, the greater the resistance and the greater will be the counter resistance. KL is seeing a showdown for a new Merdeka cry. The price to pay for this new freedom can be very high. Would tomorrow be just another Sunday in KL and Malaysia? It all depends on how the police handle the two opposing sides and how violent it turns out. Would 9th July be remembered in the same vein as May 13?