Larger Bersih turnout, but violence may play into Umno’s hands

Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) initial joy at a larger crowd for this year’s Bersih rally turned sour after demonstrators broke down barricades and engaged in open battles with police yesterday, giving Umno hawks fodder ahead of coming elections.

Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters spent the night flooding social media networks claiming that participants of the rally for free and fair elections, backed by the opposition, attacked police with missiles and even overturned a patrol car.

It has put PR on the defensive, with PKR deputy president Azmin Ali telling The Malaysian Insider “Umno will try to link this to 1998,” a reference to claims that the Reformasi movement caused widespread street violence after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as deputy prime minister.

“This will be widely contested over the media the next couple of days,” said political analyst Ong Kian Ming.

Unruly mob attacks police patrol car

An unruly mob attacked a police patrol car passing Dataran Merdeka early Saturday morning. The incident occurred about 3AM and saw the crowd chanting abuse, hitting the patrol car and banging on its bonnet.



City Deputy Police Chief Datuk Amar Singh confirmed that police had received reports regarding the incident.

He said there was no provocation from the police officers who were in the patrol car, and they were just passing through when the incident happened.

Police are investigating the matter.

Protesters disperse but police remain at Dataran

The protesters have gone home but a strong police presence remains at Dataran Merdeka where protesters had earlier breached a barbed wire cordon, triggering a response from the police that included water cannons and tear gas.

Police said their response was prompted by the violent act of protesters, and by 8pm, 388 protesters had been arrested.

Although the rally and the sit-in to demand free and fair elections was to have been held between 2pm to 4pm, people began gathering in the morning and dispersed well after nightfall.