We’ll never retaliate as we’re not gangsters, says Maria

GEORGE TOWN: The Yellow Shirts will never fight back if the Red Shirts attack, said Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah.

“That is our standard operating procedure. We are peaceful. You can hit us, do whatever you want, but we won’t fight back.

“We are not gangsters,” she said in response to the kicking, shoving and egg-throwing that the Red Shirts were recorded doing on video.

Commenting on the video of a Bersih member being kicked off his motorcycle, Maria said it was a serious incident, tantamount to gangsterism.

She was speaking at the launch of the Bersih exhibition at Town Hall, which comprised photographs of previous Bersih rallies. The exhibition will be held till Friday.

She also blamed Umno for the Red Shirts’ existence.

“We took pictures of many Umno leaders wearing the red shirts in their gatherings during our Bersih roadshows in Perlis and Perak.

“Is Umno breeding gangsters? Answer me,” she said.

But Penang Umno Youth chief Rafizal Abd Rahim said it was Bersih that was violent.

“Those who took part in a Bersih rally a few years ago attacked the police. We are just defending the Government,” he said at another press conference yesterday to announce a gathering of Red Shirts called “Himpunan Pemuda Bangkit: Ride Against Corruption 2.0”.

Rafizal said he would only reveal the date and the location a few days before the event, adding that the number of participants would be “three to four times” more than the Gurney Drive gathering.

The next gathering, he said, would be held because the demands from the previous one were not met.

“We want the Chief Minister (Lim Guan Eng) to resign or take leave pending his corruption trial and we want the Bersih 5.0 convoy to stay out of Penang,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lim, who was present at the Bersih exhibition, could not resist taking a political swipe at Gerakan president Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong over his recent criticisms of the Penang government.

“Come and contest in Penang if you are brave and believe in your own words,” he said, calling Mah’s verbal assaults on the state government’s performance misleading and inaccurate.

Mah recently ticked off the state government for giving Penangites “false hope” and failing to stop hill clearing and the rising cost of housing.