[July 05, 2011] M'sian groups may cancel protests following King's call against demos Tweet Jul 05, 2011 (The Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ANN) -- The political temperature appears to have cooled in Malaysia following the King's call that street demonstrations will bring more bad than good to the country. All groups organising the various rallies this Saturday have now decided to take a step back and indicated that they would call off their plans if none of them march that day. Hoping for a Royal audience, Bersih 2.0 steering committee chairman S. Ambiga said she would abide if it was the King's wish for the rally to be called off. Bersih, a loose amalgam of groups campaigning for electoral reforms, is demanding eight major changes, including a clean-up of the electoral roll and a minimum 21-day campaign period. The organisation was declared illegal last Saturday by Home Affairs Minister Hishamuddin Hussein. He said it had created a situation of unrest, hurt the country's image through its activities and spread propaganda by distributing brochures intended to incite the people to topple the government. On Sunday, in a rare intervention, Malaysia's King, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, urged the government and Bersih organisers to hold consultations over the issue of free and fair elections. "Amid the political fervour of a section of the people to bolster democracy in our country, it must also be ensured that this demand on democracy does not bring destruction to the country," the King said in his statement. To see more of the Asia News Network, go to http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/ Copyright (c) 2011, The Star, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / Asia News Network Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]