Peaceful end to Bersih, Red Shirt rallies

KUALA LUMPUR: While many predicted chaos and clashes at the Bersih 5 rally today, it ended in what can be described as a festival-like celebration.
The Bersih 5 rally goers sang and danced their way through the rain towards the end of the eight-hour demonstration, with many describing it a success with no untoward incidents involving the Red Shirts.
This was largely attributed to the police handling of the situation, with thousands of them deployed at various stations around the city.
Somewhat similar to the Bersih 4 rally last year, this year's edition also saw some 100,000 participants clad in Bersih T-shirts painting the streets yellow.
The rally, which was initially scheduled to end at 6pm, ended some fifteen minutes earlier as rain started pouring in the city centre while participants were gathering in front of KLCC.
A number of protestors, however, remained adamant despite the rain as they continued listening to the speeches delivered by some of the opposition leaders.
Initially, the Bersih crowd had gathered at several gathering points around the city centre namely Bangsar, Masjid Negara and Dataran Merdeka.
Although there were several blockades by the authorities, the Bersih crowd managed to assemble at Masjid Jamek before making their way to the iconic Petronas Twin Towers at 4.15pm.
This was after police had cordoned off the Dataran Merdeka area as well as several other routes that Bersih was supposed to take.
Meanwhile, the supposed Red Shirts counter rally had a mundane turnout with only a mere 5,000 protestors turning up.
This was despite its leader Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos earlier predicting that the figure would be over 300,000.
The protestors clad in their trademark red T-shirts had marched from Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) towards Dataran Merdeka before police diverted them to Padang Merbok.
However, there were several minor encounters between Bersih and Red Shirts, but none went beyond verbal altercations.