12/12: Cops just doing their job, says Nazri

Charles Ramendran, B.Suresh Ram, Husna Yusop and Eunice Au
The Sun

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz defended the police presence and action on the grounds of Parliament today, including the roads leading to Parliament.

He said the police were merely carrying out their responsibility in upholding the law and were executing it in professionally.

Nazri was commenting on the arrest of several supporters of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) at the VIP entrance, and others on the roads leading to Parliament.

“The police have the right to arrest people even in Parliament House if they were found to pose a threat to security,” he said.

He said the police had acted within their rights to apprehend anyone believed to have encroached on to high security areas, and that Parliament was one of those.

The police had on Monday obtained an injunction to stop Bersih from having an assembly to hand over the memorandum.

Mohd Nazri also said the resolution passed in the Dewan Rakyat at the beginning of every session, only allowed free passage and access to the Parliament building for elected representatives, whereas the public would need permission before they were allowed to step into Parliament.

"They didn't contact me [to obtain permission]. You know how liberal I am, so I'll allow them if they got in touch with me," said Mohd Nazri, who is in charge of parliamentary affairs and law.

He said there was also a need to look at the tendencies of the protesters to disrupt public order. “We have seen the outcome of the protests, you must be blind if you think we can have a peaceful walk. Anything can happen. We do not want to be blamed if there are casualties," he said.

He said Bersih had rejected the option of holding its gathering in an enclosed area.

Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharum also defended the police, saying their job was to ensure and maintain public stability and peace.

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, however, criticised the police's move to block Bersih supporters from submitting a memorandum protesting against the Constitution Amendment Bill to extend the retirement age of the Election Commission chairman.

He said the roadblocks were against Parliament privileges and sovereignty, as the public should have access to their elected representatives.

"We want the police to look after the safety of the Parliament House and not block access of the people or NGOs. It's undermining the parliamentary responsibility,” he said.

He added that there would not be any untoward incident if the Bersih delegation was allowed into the building.