After yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle, electoral rights group Bersih 2.0 announced today it is organising the #BERSIH4 street rally, calling for, among other things, Prime Minister Najib Razak’s resignation from office.
Bersih 2.0 released the following media statement on its official Facebook page:
The statement claims that Najib has blocked all possible avenues of inquiry into the controversial case of sovereign development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) with the “abrupt and arguably unconstitutional” termination of former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, and the Cabinet reshuffle, which not only saw former Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin ousted, but also the “co-optaion of four out of 13 members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) into the administration, namely Chairperson Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed (as deputy home minister), Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican (as deputy foreign affairs minister), Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (as deputy tourism and culture minister) and Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau (as science, technology and innovation minister).”
The Attorney-General’s Chambers had been part of a four-way Special Task Force investigating alleged criminality within 1MDB. The PAC, which is in the process of investigating 1MDB also, has had to temporarily suspend its probe as the four members promoted into the Cabinet can no longer serve on the committee.
Bersih 2.0 also terms the promotion of Home Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to the post of Deputy Prime Minister (while keeping his first portfolio) a consolidation of power on Najib’s part, pointing to the Home Ministry’s decision to suspend the publishing license of The Edge for three months following its investigative reporting into the 1MDB case.
The electoral rights group lists down 10 institutional reforms as the grounds for the #BERSIH4 rally:
- Electoral reform
- Making the Election Commission a constitutional party answerable to Parliament
- Barring Prime Minister from simultaneously holding the office of Finance Minister
- Parliamentary Reform
- Making MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) answerable to Parliament
- Separating Attorney General from the role of Public Prosecutor
- Freedom of Information laws at Federal and State levels
- Public declaration of Ministers and senior government servants’ assets
- Repeal of/Amendments to draconian laws
- Establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC)
- Najib to make public his bank account details, in particular, clarify if the AmBank accounts existed in his name and, if so, show the transaction details for the dates in question.
- Najib to take leave as the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and all other public offices he holds pending investigation.
- Najib’s, his spouse’s and his children’s accounts to be frozen.
- All findings of investigation by Bank Negara, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Police, and the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on 1MDB and related companies to be made public in the fastest time possible.
1. Clean Elections
2. Clean Governments
3. Save our economy
4. Right to Dissent
