Bersih

Rallying crowd in front of the Istana Negara.

On Saturday 10 November 2007, Bersih held the first mass rally to make four demands to ensure a clean and fair electoral process in Malaysia:[4]

1. Clean up of the electoral roll
2. Use of indelible ink
3. Abolition of postal voting for military and police personnel
4. Free and fair access to mass media for all parties

The rally took place in the area of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya around Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) and Istana Negara (The National Palace). Bersih estimated the turnout to be at least 30,000, while the official claimed there were 10,000 protesters.[5] Yellow shirts and ribbons were used as the symbol of protest as yellow is also the colour for citizen actions worldwide and for press freedom movement. A memorandum containing the four demands was submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Malaysia's head of state, during the rally.

Malaysian police refused to issue a permit for the rally, rendering the rally illegal. Tear gas and chemical-laced water cannon were used by the riot police to disperse the crowd. 245 people were detained following the protest.[6]

Following the initial rally, Bersih indicated it may hold another street demonstration if government extended the tenure of Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman. On 20 November 2007, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz tabled a first reading of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2007 that sought to extend the retirement age of members of Election Commission (EC) from 65 to 66. Parliament passed legislation on 11 December to increase EC members' retirement age from 65 to 66.[7]

Protesters marching the streets of Kuala Lumpur peacefully before the police confronted them.

The 2007 rally had raised Malaysian citizens' awareness to the irregularities and controversies in the electoral system. Ahead of the anticipated 2012 13th general election, Bersih scheduled a second public demonstration at Kuala Lumpur on 9 July 2011. Bersih 2.0 rally, also called the Walk for Democracy, called for eight points, including the four demands that remained not met in the 2008 general election:

1. Clean up of the electoral roll
2. Reform of postal ballot
3. Use of indelible ink
4. Minimum 21 days of campaign period
5. Free and fair access to mass media for all parties
6. Strengthening of public institutions
7. No corruption
8. No dirty politics

Bersih 2.0 was endorsed by 62 NGOs and joined by rallies in more than 30 international cities by oversea Malaysians in solidarity. The rally was again denied a permit. Plans for the demonstration were extensively criticised by the government and pro-government media. Police set up multiple road blocks around Kuala Lumpur and arrested 225 Bersih supporters in the lead-up to the event.[8]

After being granted an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to discuss the issue, Bersih subsequently agreed on 5 July 2011 to move the rally from the streets to Stadium Merdeka.[9][10] Estimates of the turnout on 9 July 2011 ranged from 10,000 to 50,000. The police deployed tear gas and water cannons to break up the protest and arrested more than 1600 protesters, including Ambiga and several event organisers and opposition figures.

A scene from the Bersih 3.0 rally in Polo Ground, Ipoh.

Following the Bersih 2.0 demonstration, the Malaysian government set up Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on 2 October 2011 to respond to the electoral issues. In early April 2012, PSC released a report with 22 recommendations to improve the electoral system. The report was received and passed by the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) on 3 April 2012 according to the voice of the majority without debate. An opposition minority report was proposed to be included but was rejected by the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.[11]

Bersih was unsatisfied with the PSC reports as (i) the existing Election Commission was tasked to carry out the recommendations; (ii) many of the recommendations asked for a lengthy implementation period; (iii) many allegations of electoral frauds were not acknowledged in the report.[12] In light of the issues, the third public demonstration, namely the Bersih 3.0 rally, was announced and took place on 28 April 2012 at Dataran Merdeka. The Bersih 3.0 rally was a sit-down protest (Duduk Bantah in Malay). In addition to the eight previous demands, it called for:

1. Resignation of the existing Electoral Commission
2. Implementation of the 8 demands before the 13th general election
3. Observation of the 13th general election by international observers

Bersih 3.0 was endorsed by 84 NGOs. In particular, it was joined by Himpunan Hijau (Green Assembly), a civil movement protesting the Lynas rare earth project in Malaysia. In addition to the main rally at Kuala Lumpur, smaller rallies were held in 10 other cities in Malaysia, as well as in 34 other countries.

Police again deployed tear gas and water cannon against the protestors, despite it being a peaceful demonstration. The chaos started when police began to scatter the crowd. Tear gas and water cannon targeted the exit points and the middle of the crowd.[13]

Crowd listening to Maria's speech in Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur

A tribunal was organised by Bersih on 18–21 September 2013 in regards to the general elections that was held on 5 May 2013, whereby invited witnesses gave testimonies on the irregularities and incidents of fraud. [14][15] There were also calls for Election Commission to resign due to the way electoral demarcations were formed in past redelineation exercises.[16][17]

Bersih 4 rallies were scheduled to be held on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu from 29 to 30 August, 2pm until midnight.[18]

The gathering places for the rally should be located at Brickfields, Pasar Seni, Dataran Maybank, National Mosque, and Sogo shopping mall, according to the Bersih 2.0 chairperson.[19] This was the first Bersih rally that are racially imbalance, with Chinese predominantly at the rally.[20]

The Bersih 5 rally was held peacefully on 19 November 2016 in Kuala Lumpur.[21] A Bersih convoy was also launched and targeted all parts of Malaysia to raise awareness of the current democratic problems nationwide.[22][23][24][25]