PKR rally turns into a protest

(The Star) KUALA LUMPUR: A public rally to drum up support for Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday night ended with a small protest by dozens of people.

The Malaysian Insider reported that Anwar was supposed to present his case before party loyalists as he faces his second sodomy trial in a decade.

Some 2,000 party supporters including former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, PKR vice-presidents Azmin Ali and R. Sivarasa turned up at a local council hall in Ampang to hear his address.

According to the Malaysian Insider, as soon as Anwar ended his speech, a banner “We want change” was unfurled by protesters who claimed to be from PKR Youth.

They were protesting the appointment of three individuals to the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council. They also distributed copies of a memorandum on the matter to the public.

“Since last year we have raised objections to the state leadership but they were not taken into consideration.

“We don’t have a choice but to inform Datuk Seri directly,” stated the memorandum which was addressed to Anwar.

They claimed that the state government had ignored the Ampang PKR’s recommendations in the appointment of the Ampang Jaya councillors.

An unidentified PKR Youth member later agreed to remove the banner but they refused to disperse until they handed over the memorandum to Anwar.

Security and party supporters tried to block the protesters from meeting the Opposition leader when he walked to his car.

Anwar signalled his willingness to accept the memorandum and after it was handed over, the group shouted “Hidup Anwar” and “Reformasi”.

The on-line news portal reported that the group of protesters represented a senior Ampang PKR member who was unhappy because he was not appointed to the Ampang Jaya council.