By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
A Malay-ethnic organisation has vowed to bring some 300,000 supporters of the government onto the streets of the capital Sept. 16 to pledge support for Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, however, has said that police will not allow the rally to take place, given issues of security and public order.
Rally organisers have said that the demonstration - being held to counter the massive "yellow shirt" 34-hour Bersih rally last month which was attended by some 200,000 people - will serve as a lesson to minority races in Malaysia to respect Malay supremacy in the country.
"We will try best to avoid unwanted incidents but the non-Malays are not advised to join the crowd, as it might turn unruly," official spokesperson Jamal Md Yunus told Anadolu Agency on Friday.
Sept. 16 is an annual public holiday in Malaysia to celebrate the formation of the Malaya federation in 1963.
Yunus said the demonstration will be held for 12 hours in the tourist area of Bukit Bintang, in Kuala Lumpur's center.
"We, together with other 250 Malay non-governmental groups, just want to hold a peaceful assembly as enshrined in the Constitution under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and it is not intended to disrupt public order," he said.
"Why aren’t the Malays allowed to assemble? And why when it comes to opposition, it is okay no matter what?"
Yunus said the gathering is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. with "red-shirted" participants gathering at checkpoints around the area before they walk to the rally site.
On Wednesday, Razak asserted that his party is not involved in any way with the rally, and had not sponsored it.
However, he noted that several party leaders are members of groups who have expressed a willingness to join.
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