Malaysians tired of rallies: Nur Jazlan

KUALA LUMPUR: Recent rallies and street demonstrations against the government would likely bring minimal impact as Malaysians have become tired of such methods of protest.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said despite countless of rallies organised in recent years, none have managed to reach their objective in bringing a change of government.
"The rakyat is fed up of demonstrations. This is proven by the fact that despite four rallies organised by Bersih since 2008, Barisan Nasional still remains victorious in the General Election.
"Therefore, people are getting tired with the organisers of the demonstrations," he said in a press conference after attending the 10th Malaysian Student Leaders' Summit at Mercu UEM.
According to Nur Jazlan, the rakyat have seen that demonstrations are politically-motivated and are not used for voicing out the public's dissatisfaction towards the government.
Instead of going down to the streets, the Pulai MP stated that Malaysians would likely voice their grouses against the government through the ballot box.
"That is the best democracy practice, and not through demonstrations to topple the government," he said.
Commenting on the #TangkapMO1 rally organised by a group of university students in the city today, Nur Jazlan advised the organisers not to be "arrogant" by not heeding to the rules of assembly as stated in the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA).
He said this in response to the rally organisers' decision to proceed with their planned gathering in Dataran Merdeka, despite not receiving the approval from Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
"We do not stop any parties from holding a demonstration, as long as it is in accordance to the PAA.
"The law has stated that organisers have to receive approval from the owner of their demonstration site before it can take place," he said.
Earlier during the event, Nur Jazlan quipped Bersih of self-proclaiming itself as the "crusaders of democracy" but failed to follow regulations set by the authorities during street rallies.
"How many demonstrations have Bersih conducted? Four times. Has it change the government? No.
"You cannot proceed (with demonstrations) without permission from the police ... but Bersih refuses to do so as they are the self-appointed 'crusaders of democracy'," he said.