MALAYSIA: More than 40,000 people protest against Malaysia's election result, saying the electoral system is 'fraudulent'

Record ID: 213972

  • Title: MALAYSIA: More than 40,000 people protest against Malaysia's election result, saying the electoral system is 'fraudulent'
  • Date: 9th May 2013
  • Summary: PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR STATE, MALAYSIA (MAY 8, 2013) (REUTERS) DEMONSTRATORS IN STADIUM VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS CHEERING PEOPLE'S JUSTICE PARTY FLAG SPEAKER ON STAGE MALAYSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ANWAR IBRAHIM'S DAUGHTER AND OPPOSITION POLITICIAN NURUL IZZAH ANWAR ON STAGE ANWAR ARRIVING ON STAGE ANWAR LOOKING AT CROWD DEMONSTRATORS CHEERING VARIOUS OF ANWAR SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER, ANWAR IBRAHIM, SAYING: "You (to Prime Minister Najib Razak) have no confidence on your people, you have resort to cheating - buying and forcing Bangladeshi, Indonesians and Filipinos to vote for you." DEMONSTRATORS CHEERING NURUL PREPARING TO SPEAK NURUL SPEAKING VARIOUS DEMONSTRATORS CHEERING MAN WAVING MALAYSIAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) ETHNIC CHINESE VOTER, LEONG YUK KHOW, SAYING: "It doesn't matter whether we are Chinese, Malay or Indian -- we are Malaysians. We Chinese know that the government is very corrupt that's why we were trying to overthrow them. It was the Malaysians trying to vote them out, not only ethnic Chinese." DEMONSTRATORS SHOUTING "BERSIH" (CLEAN) DEMONSTRATORS SHOUTING "REFORMASI" (REFORMS) (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Malaysia) ETHNIC MALAY VOTER IN SELANGOR STATE, AMILA RAMIN, SAYING: "I think it is very unfair. Because everything was manipulated by the election commission, I feel that their work is very incredible." DEMONSTRATORS SHOWING "DEMOCRACY IS DEAD" BANNER MAN WAVING FLAG WITH THREE OPPOSITION PARTIES LOGO (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Malaysia) VOTER IN GOMBAK, MAHATHIR ABDUL RANI, SAYING: "The UMNO and Barisan Nasional have to be voted out, because they have been abusing Malaysians' voting rights for the past 50 years." VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS SHOWING BANNER, READING: WE ARE MALAY, CHINESE, INDIAN PLACARD READING (Malay): ANWAR THE 7TH PM DEMONSTRATORS
  • Embargoed: 24th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Malaysia
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEX7IDKRVO4LR00USIMBKWK6NL
  • Story Text: At least 40,000 supporters of Malaysia's opposition held a defiant rally near Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (May 8), as its leader Anwar Ibrahim pledged to expose cheating that cost his alliance election victory this week.
    Tens of thousands of supporters wore black to mourn "the death of democracy in Malaysia" as they shouted "reformasi" (reform) and "resign Najib" during the four-hour rally.
    Anwar called the rally to press his case for what he says is evidence of widespread fraud in May 5 election that handed victory, with a weakened parliamentary majority to the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
    Anwar said the opposition had identified more than 30 constituencies out of a total 222 where the result was suspicious, and is expected to reveal proof in coming weeks.
    He earlier alleged the ruling coalition of flying in voters to vote in favour to the coalition.

    "You (to Prime Minister Najib Razak) have no confidence on your people, you have resort to cheating - buying and forcing Bangladeshi, Indonesians and Filipinos to vote for you," said Anwar.
    The 65-year-old has vowed to lead a "fierce movement" to reform the country's electoral system and challenge the results of the election, although he is unlikely to gain much traction in any attempt to overturn the result.
    The three-party opposition alliance won 89 seats in parliament compared to the ruling coalition, which delivered the worst performance in its history at a less than two-thirds majority of 133.
    Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he had been taken by surprise by the extent of what he called a "Chinese tsunami", referring to the race who make up a quarter of Malaysians.
    The statement had angered some Chinese voters in the country, saying that it should not be classify as an ethnicity issue as it was the Malaysians' rights to choose a government based on their performance.

    "It doesn't matter whether we are Chinese, Malay or Indian, we are Malaysians. We, Chinese, know that the government is very corrupt that's why we were trying to vote them out. It was the Malaysians who were against them, not only the ethnic Chinese," said an ethnic Chinese demonstrator Leong Yuk Khow.
    The ethnic Chinese have turned to the opposition after being attracted by its pledge to tackle corruption and end race-based policies, undermining the National Front's traditional claim to represent all races in the nation of 28 million people.
    Also, the country's Election Commission, which is a unit of the prime minister's office has been criticised by the opposition and civil society groups as biased and siding with the ruling Barisan Nasional.

    "I think it is very unfair. Because everything was manipulated by the election commission, I feel that their work is very incredible," said a 49-year-old voter Amila Amin.

    "The UMNO and Barisan Nasional have to be voted out, because they have been abusing Malaysians' voting rights in the last 50 years," said another ethnic Malay voter Mahathir Abdul Rani.
    Malaysia's government earlier accused Anwar of "fomenting division" and planning to cause unrest at the rally.
    There were no reports of violence and the police presence appeared to be thin.
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