Guest fountainhall Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 Last year it was protests which all but crippled the centre of Bangkok. Now it’s Kuala Lumpur’s turn. Up to 300,000 Malaysians are expected to descend on the capital tomorrow to demand electoral reform. The demonstrators had originally wanted a street rally, but the police prohibited it. So a sports stadium has been booked. Now the police have banned the rally altogether and say it is illegal. If you are in Kuala Lumpur or have a visit planned starting tomorrow, please keep away from the centre. Riot police will be out in force. Malaysian police have said they will block access to the capital Kuala Lumpur for 24 hours because of a planned pro-electoral reform rally. Major roads will be shut and public transportation suspended from midnight (1700 GMT). A group calling itself the Bersih 2.0 coalition plans to hold (a) rally in a sports stadium on Saturday. Police have questioned more than 150 activists in recent weeks, and 91 have been barred from the city. More than 30 activists remain in detention after being arrested almost two weeks ago . . . Rally organisers say Malaysia's electoral system is plagued with fraud - they want longer campaign periods, automatic voter registration and equality of access to the largely government-linked mainstream media. The authorities say the protesters are trying to promote communist ideology, thereby "waging war against the king". Police have accused several of those they have arrested of carrying flyers and T-shirts with "inflammatory slogans". The police launched a crackdown after a similar demonstration in 2007. Analysts say that protest helped the opposition win an unprecedented number of seats in the last general election. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14076424 Quote
