PAS only sending reps for Bersih 4.0 rally

PETALING JAYA: PAS will not mobilise its members for the planned Bersih 4.0 rally on Aug 29 and 30 as it wants to focus on several party events, according to its secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan. 

In a statement on Monday, he said the party also felt that the chosen date of the rally, which is just a day before the national Merdeka Day celebrations, was not suitable. 

He said, however, PAS would send representatives to the rally as it supported Bersih’s call for clean and fair elections. 

It also reminded the rally organisers that preserving public peace and stability was the responsibility of all parties involved. 

“PAS has decided it will not mobilise its members for the Bersih 4.0 rally. Instead, we will send several representatives to the gathering as a show of our support to the coalition’s demands, especially on the aspect of a clean and fair electoral system,” Takiyuddin said. 

He said PAS was now busy preparing for the Kongres Rakyat, a national gathering involving party leaders, NGOs, political parties and members of the public, which is scheduled to be held on Sept 12. 

PAS is also organising the Himpunan 60 Ribu (H60K) on Oct 17. 

“The rally also clashes with two other PAS events that are taking place in all states until Oct 3,” Takiyuddin added.

It was reported last week that Bersih would mobilise 2,000 volunteers to ensure security and manage the crowd in the absence of PAS’ Unit Amal, which had taken up the responsibility in previous rallies.