The Bersih 3.0 protest last Saturday, the largest public gathering since the Reformasi movement of 1999, was intended to overthrow the government, said former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“They (the opposition) know that through the election process, people will not give them the power to form the government,” he said in Putrajaya this afternoon.
“The only way is an uprising of the people to overthrow the government and install themselves as the new regime.”
Mahathir was speaking after launching the Malay version of his memoir, ‘Doctor in the House: The memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’.
The protest, he said, was to destablise the country to establish the need for regime change with the help of foreign forces.
“The disturbance is because they want to establish that the country is run by dictators … They will be happy if foreigners bring planes and bomb Kuala Lumpur. They would say ‘I have done a good thing for this country’, that is what the opposition and the Bersih movement is about.”
In countries where the government has been overthrown, “99.9 percent” of the vote had gone to the incumbents in elections, he said.
However, this is not the case in Malaysia where the opposition won Selangor, Penang, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan in 2008, and Terengganu and Sabah previously.
Asked if the general election should be delayed because of the unprecedented protest, Mahathir said he is not in a position to advise Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
“I
am not in the business of advising the prime minister, If I could, I would because I have a lot of things on my mind that I would want him to do,” he said.
If people listen, quipped Mahathir, he would advise protesters who had overturned a police car during the Bersih 3.0 protest.
‘Anwar a hit and run instigator’
Responding to video footage that appears to show PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim gesturing to party deputy president Azmin Ali before the barricade at Dataran Merdeka was breached, he said this had been the same during his tenure.
“That is his (Anwar’s) reputation. The last time he demonstrated, when I was prime minister, he would instigate people, then he would disappear.
“That is normal, the modus operandi of Anwar Ibrahim. He instigates people and then runs away so that people cannot accuse him.”
Asked to comment on complaints of violence against journalists during the protest, he replied: “According to the people who were beaten, they said some of the demonstators hit them.
“But the opposition will say it is the police so (that) later they can say this is a police state and we must overthrow the government and install Anwar as prime minister.”
He also slammed the Bar Council for making similar allegations about the police.
“The Bar Council said it is the police, so the police must be investigated. I think we should investigate the Bar Council itself, whether it is a Bar Council or a political party,” he added.
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“If the action was not taken to disperse the crowd, a clash could have taken place and the situation would have become far more dangerous for both parties,” Ismail said, reasoning the use of tear gas and water cannons.
“The one lesson learnt – if laws are followed, this is the problem that arises,” Ismail said, referring to the protesters as “rioters”.
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“There is no such thing. We act in accordance with the law,” Ismail replied curtly when pressed on the matter at a press conference at the police headquarters at Bukit Aman.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Harry Fawcett had said he and the international news network’s cameraperson were shoved, causing their video camera to fall and be smashed, while Channel News Asia videographer Kenny Lew was allegedly punched by police and had his tripod seized.
Posted by Susanloo
April 30th, 2012 by 
About 7.30pm, I was at a mamak stall having dinner with seven to eight friends. About 10 police personnel came in and threatened to arrest us for wearing yellow to-shirts.
I was at Masjid Jamek about 7pm when the police told us to disperse. While at the LRT station to get a train, my three friends and I saw a woman being stomped on, so we ran.
I was standing on the sidewalk in Jalan Tun Perak about 6pm, trying to send a text-message to locate my friends, when the police charged at protesters in Masjid Jamek.
I was near the Kuala Lumpur City Hall headquarters about 4pm. Trying to escape the tear gas, I ran behind the building but was surrounded by police personnel.
he police then ambushed me and arrested me. When I asked why, they told me to follow them and not to ask any questions.
Hii Tiong Huat, 60, had bruises on his chest and injuries to his left eye
At 4pm, a police officer approached me and said I was arrested. I asked why but he did not answer. He was not wearing a name tag.
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“The problem is when facing mob psychology, the police are also under pressure. Their colleagues have been beaten and their car overturned. It is not just you (journalists), the police have also suffered,” he said.
“Investigations must be done first. We cannot simply take action, rule of law must take place. There has to be a fair and objective investigation and the attorney-general will take action without resorting to emotions,” he said.
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Firdaus, who is being treated for head and body injuries, said as the police took him to the Royal Selangor Club, another group of policemen also assaulted him.
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