The organisers of the “Rakyat Tolak Anwar” rally in Putrajaya earlier today said they are giving Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim six months to buck up and respond to their demands.
Demi Negara movement spokesperson Aidil Yunus said the demonstration held in front of the prime minister’s official residence in Putrajaya today is their “first warning letter” on Anwar’s alleged non-performance.
According to the social media influencer, the first round of their protest is not aimed at bringing down the prime minister but that can change if Anwar does not change.
“Many of our comrades said they want Anwar to step down. However, the objective of this rally today was not to demand his resignation but instead, we want him to buck up.
“Like in any other performance management, when someone commits mistakes for the first time, we just issue a warning letter.
“So, we are being very fair to him. But, we will only give him six months until his second anniversary as prime minister.
“If there is no change, I am willing to go even further to bring him down for real,” said Aidil, who is widely known on social media as “YB Viral”.
He said the movement has proven its capability through today’s protest, where they managed to gather a crowd in front of Anwar’s official residence to voice their dissatisfaction towards the government.
Among their demands are to reduce the price of diesel, allow targeted Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals, ensure that the healthcare system is taken care of, tackle the rising cost of living and give equal allocations to all MPs.
Tambun next
Adding further, he said the group would give Putrajaya 30 days to respond to their demands.
Should there be no response, Demi Negara will plan more protests in the future until the government listens, with Anwar’s parliamentary constituency of Tambun to be their next venue.
“Because Tambun as we know is the most important parliamentary constituency now,” Aidil said in jest.
Meanwhile, the protest began at about 5pm at a public parking lot just outside the Seri Perdana Complex.
Aidil claimed that the rally had gathered between over 300 and 500 attendees, while police estimated the crowd to be around 150.
Clad in black attires, the participants could be heard shouting various chants including “Reformasi”, “Turun Anwar”, and “Hidup Rakyat”.
They were led by a line-up of speakers, including social media influencers and political activists such as former PKR leader Chegubard, lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, Tun Faisal, and singer Dayangku Intan.
The protest went on for close to two hours under the watchful eye of police and other law enforcement officials, before the crowd dispersed without any untoward incident. - Mkini
