Jamal pledges to paint the streets red
Red Shirts leader says he will hold a counter-demonstration against Bersih’s plans for a mass rally.
KUALA LUMPUR: Jamal Md Yunos of the pro-Umno Red Shirts rally has dared critics of Prime Minister Najib Razak to go ahead with plans for anti-Najib rallies, pledging that “we will paint the streets red again with the Red Shirts” in retaliation.
Two days ago, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had called for public demonstrations to remove Najib from office, and Maria Chin Abdullah of the Bersih movement had announced readiness to call a Berish 5 rally.
Jamal, however, claimed that their approach was unbecoming of a democratic nation.
“If they want to get rid of the Prime Minister, do so via the general election which is not long from now. It is also incomprehensible how someone who had been our prime minister for over 20 years would be the one who leads a revolt against our constitutional democracy,” he said, referring to Dr Mahathir.
Jamal said a Red Shirts rally would be held at exactly the same time as the anti-Najib rallies.
“This time we’ll do things a little differently by holding the rally at the same time and I predict that there will be more than 300,000 who come for the Red Shirts Rally 2.0 if we’re forced to hold one.”
In September last year thousands of people wearing red gathered at Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur in a show of support for Najib and Umno, while a noisy group estimated at 3,000 gathered in the streets outside the Kota Raya shopping complex causing a ruckus by demanding entry into Petaling Street.
Jamal, who is head of Sungai Besar Umno division, however said that particular group was not part of the Red Shirts assembly.
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