Forces Gather against Najib before Protest

South China Morning Post

28 August 2015

Embattled Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak may face another political challenge when critics of his government stage a potentially massive rally this weekend to demand his resignation.

The rally, also known as “Bersih 4”, will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Sarawak tomorrow and on Sunday, just ahead of the country’s Independence Day on Monday.

Malaysian police have said the event is unlawful and called on the public to stay away, setting the stage for clashes between participants and officers.

Organiser Maria Chin Abdullah on Wednesday said the rally would not interrupt official celebrations for Independence Day, also known as Merdeka, and that the demonstration was the people’s way of celebrating the occasion.

… But Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, said Bersih 4 would still draw a big crowd as many from the country’s middle class have been “irked by the series of scandals”.

He added that the prospect of change would depend on the crowd’s composition rather than its size.

“For example, if Dr Mahathir [Mohamad] joins the rally, or there are many Malays or [ruling party] UMNO participants, then the political pressure on Najib will pile on a bit,” Oh said.

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