Why 2nd #KitaLawan rally smaller than the first
Kelantan’s hudud, a police crackdown and the thought of gate-crashing someone’s wedding were among some of the reasons yesterday’s #KitaLawan rally was smaller than the first one three weeks ago.
Analysts and observers also said while the goods and services tax (GST) was a feature in this rally and a significant issue for the majority of Malaysians, the impact from the new tax has yet to be felt.
Once the GST starts really hurting low-income earners, they said, not even the arrest of activists and political leaders would prevent protests from breaking out all over the country.
“Dissent is like a fruit, when it is ripe, nothing can stop it from falling,” said political scientist Dr Wong Chin Huat (pic, left), a fellow at the Penang Institute.
Hudud fallout
The first #KitaLawan rally was on March 7, 10 days before the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Code II 1993 (amendment 2015) was tabled at the state assembly and divided Pakatan Rakyat parties, which were the prime movers of the rally.
The bad blood and infighting has sapped the spirit of all of PR’s supporters, whether they are from PAS, DAP or PKR and many were starting to give up on the coalition, said Selangor DAP leader Charles Santiago.
“Morale is low. With hudud, PR seems to be falling apart and people are starting to give up on PR as a viable coalition,” said Santiago, who is also Klang MP.
Disagreement over the Kelantan law led to DAP announcing on March 23 that it has stopped working with PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
Following that decision, the Sabah and Sarawak branches of the DAP announced that they are cutting off ties with PAS in both states.
Before that, the Labuan PAS division had announced it would stop cooperating with the DAP.
Though the working relationship between PAS, DAP and PKR officials in the Selangor and Penang PR governments remain intact, the feeling of disenchantment has percolated to grassroots members and their sympathisers, said Wong.
Police crackdown
More importantly, Santiago believes the dejection among supporters has held them back from surmounting the climate of fear that has been created after the police arrested activists and PR leaders after the first rally.
“When your supporters see you breaking up, they will be thinking ‘why should I go and get beaten up by the police’ if these people are going to break up?”
Eleven activists and politicians have been arrested in connection with the March 7 rally, while seven were arrested on March 27, a day before yesterday’s demonstration.
The fact that many activists were also detained in the anti-GST rally at the Customs Department on March 25 also thinned the number of people at yesterday’s protest, said Wong.
Merdeka Center executive director Ibrahim Suffian (pic, right) believes the police crackdown in itself has had a chilling effect, even on hardcore activists.
Dissent not ripe
The idea of crashing the prime minister’s daughter’s wedding at the KLCC Convention Centre, also put off many, said Wong.
This was seen in how the crowd, which numbered about 1,000 in the Sogo area, started to dwindle when the organiser said they would walk towards KLCC.
The protesters, eventually reducing to about 400 people, made the journey through Jalan Dang Wangi and on to Jalan Ampang, reaching only as far as Wisma Selangor Dredging, where they were stopped by a police barricade a few hundred metres short of KLCC.
“I think many felt it was not nice to go and spoil someone’s wedding,” said Santiago.
Although yesterday’s rally also attempted to marshal anger at the GST, Ibrahim said it was far too soon to feel the effects of the new tax.
“GST will only be keyed in the next few months. So you may see more anger after that.”
Wong echoed this, saying that the public’s mood for widespread dissent was not ripe yet.
“People are busy shopping before April 1, anxious for what may come. When they feel the pain, protests will become more spontaneous and have their own life risked, even if all key leaders are detained.” – March 29, 2015.
