1 Black Malaysia
On Thursday May 7th, Pakatan and co. has urged all Malaysians to stand up for Perak by wearing black for the day.
It is to signify as a day that will go down in history as one of the darkest in the country’s history as the Opposition is opposed to UMNO disregard of democratic rights when Perak state, Zambry Kadir official pushed for a sitting for the Perak State Legislature.
With the help of the Perak Sultan, Najib and UMNO ousted and replaced the previous Legislature back in February, where PAS leader Nizar Jamaluddin was toppled. Nizar has mentioned to the media that he will attend May 7th Perak state legislature sitting.
Opposition plea for fresh election was denied again to no avail and I reckon they had to resort to this ‘wear black’ initiative to show their frustration with the ruling coalition.
The 1BLACKMalaysia campaign is being spearheaded by Bersih, a coalition of 71 political parties and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It has also been endorsed by the Centre for Policy Initiatives (CPI), Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), and Anwar Ibrahim Club (AIC).
BERSIH official statement for May 7th initiative, “We the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (BERSIH) call upon all Malaysians to wear black to work, to school, in play or at home the coming May 7th (Thursday) to present ’1BLACKMalaysia’ to Prime Minister Najib Razak as our strongest protest to the on-going Perak coup he has orchestrated.
Despite the court’s scheduled hearing on the legality of Zambry Abdul Kadil’s legality as the Menteri Besar on May 5th and 6th, a sitting for the Perak State Legislature has been scheduled to begin on May 7th bypassing the speaker V. Sivakumar.
A motion has also been tabled to replace the speaker, who has vigorously defended the Legislature’s rights and power throughout the coup, with R. Ganesan, a non-lawmaker from the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC).
To prevent the public from knowing what would happen in the assembly, a ‘media curfew’ was imposed whereby only 13 selected media outlets are granted access, on top of a general lockdown of the city of Ipoh, where the Legislature is seated. While the Zambry regime had since retracted the “media curfew” under strong public outcry, the initial move reveals a regime that fears public scrutiny.
These latest developments show total disregard of Najib Razak on rule of law and constitutional democracy in Malaysia. He has also ignored the voters’ wrath on unconstitutional means of power grab, as showed in the Bukit Gantang by-election where the margin for the ousted MB Mohammad Nizar increased by over 2000 votes.
Najib’s slogan: ’1Malaysia, people first, performance now’ is now a cruel joke on Malaysians. Is this the old ’1Authoritarian-and-CorruptMalaysia’ getting worse? What ‘people first’ when people are forced to be blind, deaf, mute and immobile with the media curfew and city lockdown? What ‘performance now’ when the ‘performance’ in law-breaking may never be known?
In response to all these, we urge all Malaysians to wear black on May 7th. It will be a peaceful but powerful message of civil disobedience that we the people are politicians’ bosses and no politicians defiant of public opinion can escape punishment at the next poll. Civil disobedience is a peaceful act that every citizen can participate and make a difference. In history, civil disobedience led by Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King and the Polish people had successfully ended tyranny and injustice without bloodshed or disruption.
Let’s paint every state and territory, every town and village black with our clothes, headbands, hats, turbans, veils, armbands, ribbons and stickers on that day. Let everyone see a sea of black walking into an office, a market, a mosque, a temple, a church, a college, a park, a bus, a commuter or LRT car, a ferry or an aeroplane .
Let us be united in one BLACK colour and let show the world that the 1Malaysia under Najib Razak is ’1BLACKMalaysia’ living in darkness.
Let’s show the world that Malaysians will stand up against any invasion of democracy, freedom and peace by unscrupulous politicians. We will not allow coup be the way to power in Perak, or anywhere in Malaysia. No one shall take away our democracy, freedom and peace. Najib may hijack our unelected institutions like the judiciary, civil service, police and Election Commission, but he will never win our heart and mind. And he is no reformist until he dares to face elections in Perak.
Let us show Najib in one colour – “1BlackMalaysia!”. Let us tell him in one voice for Malaysia: “Democracy First!” Let us pose him the one solution for Perak: “Elections now!”.
Yes, Mr Prime Minister of Malaysia, and the World, listen to us: 1BlackMalaysia! Democracy First! Elections Now!
1. Writer Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)
2. Centre for Orang Asli Concerns
3. Citizen Think Tank
4. Centre for Independent Journalism
5. People’s Parliament
6. Centre for Policy Initiatives
7 Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti, Selangor (Empower)
KUALA LUMPUR 5 May 2009″
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