Rally organisers should have followed the law

Constitutional law expert, Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi today said the organisers of the #Black505 rally should have followed the law before holding that rally last night.

He said although he is not against peaceful rallies, but notices prior to the event must be given to the police as stated under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

“I am certainly not opposed to peaceful rallying, as it is a way to express disagreements. But they must follow the law,” said Dr Shad to Astro Awani.

The gathering, themed 'Suara Rakyat Suara Keramat’, was organised by the opposition to express their disatisfaction on the election results.

Commenting on the issues raised after the general election results, he said some issues like the indelible ink is not even an issue.

“So what if the ink came off? It came off after the second day. The point is, it still prevents people from voting two times,” he said.

Dr Shad also commented about foreigners being the right to vote, saying that as long as they have been given the blue identity card (IC), they can vote.

“I’m not defending the Election Commission (EC), but you cannot expect the EC to ask them how long have they (the foreigners) been here before getting their IC,” he added.

Meanwhile, Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) secretary-general Al Jafree Yusop said the message from last night’s rally should be taken seriously.

“A lot of them were angry… and most of them were not Pakatan Rakyat members, they were just common people,” he said.

Jafree said the people are saying something through that rally and it cannot be ignored.

“You can ignore the opposition but you cannot ignore the rakyat,” he added.

He also said that those who participated in the rally have no choice but to voice out their dissatisfaction through peaceful gatherings because it is the only way as the mainstream media would not carry their voices.

Last night, thousands of Malaysians, dressed in black, gathered to protest against the country's election results which they claim were tainted by fraud.

The gathering was held at Kelana Jaya stadium with protesters spilling out of the stadium area causing massive traffic gridlocks which lasted for hours.