Bersih to Gerakan: What
happened to your fight
against corruption?
The reform group’s chairman, Faisal Abdul Aziz, said Gerakan is part of the Perikatan Nasional coalition which had rallied in solidarity with Najib Razak.
Bersih chairman Faisal Abdul Aziz said the involvement of Perikatan Nasional in the Jan 6 rally in solidarity with Najib Razak made it appear that Gerakan has stopped supporting the fight against corruption, first started by party founder Syed Hussein Alatas.
“I don’t see (the fight against corruption) driving Gerakan to be an opposition force serving as a check and balance in raising new ideas of reformation against corruption,” he said.
He was responding to criticism by Gerakan president Dominic Lau that Bersih was no longer as aggressive as it was during Barisan Nasional’s time in power before the 2018 general election.
Lau said the last time he saw Bersih speaking out was during the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election last year, when a minister announced allocations for the constituency, a move considered a violation of campaigning rules.
Lau said Bersih has been silent since then, as if there are no more issues to champion.
However, Faisal said Bersih has remained a critic of the government, especially when it gathered in front of the Parliament building on Jan 2 urging the government to implement structural reforms against corruption.
“Bersih has always and will continue to criticise the wrongdoings of any government, no matter who the prime minister is,” he said.
In November, Bersih gave the unity government a grade of “D” for its performance in the two years since its formation in December 2022.
Faisal said at the time that the grade reflected the government’s limited progress in implementing reforms, and the gap between its rhetoric and actions.
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