Salleh: Rally or not, Merdeka preparations to continue

Preparations for this year’s Merdeka celebrations are in full swing despite the planned Bersih rally over the weekend.

The dry run for the Merdeka parade will proceed on Aug 29.

“The organisers have also comple­­ted their final meeting,” said Com­mu­nication and Multimedia Minis­ter Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak.

He hoped The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections 2.0 (Bersih 2.0) would either find another venue or postpone its rally to another date.

“Merdeka is a day which belongs to all Malaysians.

“Irrespective of political leanings, everyone should come out to celebrate,” Dr Salleh said.

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said the planned rally had not interfered with City Hall’s (DBKL) Merdeka preparations.

But he pointed out that DBKL was focused primarily on its premises and not directly involved in orga­nising the National Day parade.

Separately, Bersih 2.0 said in a statement that it received RM1.5mil in donations so far.

Bersih 2.0 chief Maria Chin Abdullah said the amount exceeded the initial RM200,000 target.

She said the generosity of the public was an endorsement of Ber­sih’s call for clean elections, clean government and the strengthening of parliamentary democracy.

“We will use the donations prudently to fund the immediate needs of the upcoming peaceful assembly as well as Bersih 2.0’s long-term programmes,” she said.

Maria added that Bersih 2.0 would publish its accounts after the weekend assembly.