Pakatan leaders face rally dilemma

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Hara­p­an leaders seem to be in a quandary as to whether disciplinary action should be taken against party members who attend tomorrow’s anti-Icerd (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) rally organised by Umno and PAS.

So far, no Pakatan party has issued a ban on members attending the anti-Icerd rally.

PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin, however, said action should be taken against PKR members who attend the anti-Icerd rally as the party itself had said it is against the rally.

Parti Amanah Nasional (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu said there was no ban, but he was sure that Amanah members would be “passive” about the rally.

Parti Bersatu Pribumi Malaysia (Bersatu) supreme council member Tariq Ismail said while one was free to join any rally, they should think about what this rally signified for Umno and PAS.

“The reason someone joins Bersatu is because of the vast difference between Bersatu and these parties (Umno and PAS).

“They are more form over substance, where you pray to high heaven and then walk out of the door forgetting the intentions,” he added.

He said although Bersatu members were free to attend the rally, they should question what the rally is for.

“Also, if anything goes wrong during the rally and you are caught by the authorities, do not blame the leadership if they take action against you,” he cautioned.

He said Bersatu members must remember that their president and Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would be at another rally.

Dr Mahathir will attend a Suhakam gathering at Padang Timur in Petaling Jaya tommorow, the same day as the anti-Icerd rally in Kuala Lumpur.

On Nov 28, he said the party would decide if disciplinary action would be taken against members who attend the anti-Icerd rally.

Separately, a poll conducted by the Mukhriz Mahathir FC Facebook page asking if the anti-Icerd rally should go ahead saw respondents overwhelmingly in favour of the gathering.

The Facebook page (@MukhrizMahathirFC) has over 500,000 followers and describes itself as the official fan club of Mukhriz, the Bersatu deputy president.

The poll from Wednesday morning and scheduled till 8am today stated that the government had rejected Icerd in Malaysia.

“Therefore, is there still a need for the anti-Icerd gathering on Dec 8?” it asked.

As at 3.45pm yesterday, 83% voted “Needed!” while 17% voted “No!”, with a total of 43,200 respondents taking part.

The posting about the poll also drew more than 1,600 comments on Facebook.

A check on the comments section showed many expressing support for the rally.

“Very needed. Malays must show solidarity on this issue and that they can unite,” wrote Facebook user Ahmad Fauzi Mustafa.

“Needed because ... want to show to the government do not look down on the power of the rakyat,” wrote Raja Hilmi Raja Rashid.

There was no immediate response from Mukhriz and the Mukhriz Mahathir FC Face­book page administrators about the poll.

But as of 5pm yesterday, the poll had been removed from the Facebook account.