Johor Crown Prince Not Present But A Hit At Ummah Rally

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Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim was a popular personality at the rally organised by Gerakan Pembela Ummah today even though he wasn't present. Several participants carried placards in support of him at the rally which was also backed by Umno and PAS
Among others, the placards read: "TMJ loved by the people, Mahathir loved by Saddiq", "TMJ, continue with the struggle" "TMJ's voice the people's voice" and "Touch TMJ and we will fight"
One of the protesters carrying such a placard was Bandar Tun Razak Umno Youth chief Mohd Riziqin Hillan
"We carry TMJ's photo because of the conflict with the palace over the Rome Statute. We want to protest against the government and show our support to the palace," told Malaysiakini
Meanwhile, 48-year-old Akhmal Haris carried a placard that read: "TMJ helped the people see the light about the Rome Statute."However, Akhmal said his participation in the rally was not so much about the Rome Statute but general dissatisfaction with the Pakatan Harapan government
"I joined the rally today not because of the Rome Statute issue but due to my unhappiness with the government. The current government appears to be putting pressure on the people, not only with the Rome Statute but with various other issues too," he said
Akhmal had travelled from Jerlun, Kedah to Kuala Lumpur for the rally, having departed at 10am
However, another protester, who did not want to be named, revealed the pro-TMJ placards were distributed to participants just before the rally. "A man in his 30s distributed it at Masjid Jamek so we just took it," he said
Wanita Umno member Zubaidah Maskur said she had travelled from Sungai Besar in one of three buses for today's rally. Unlike the "support Johor crown prince" placards said to be given out, Zubaidah said her group had their own
Another elderly man with a similar pro-Johor crown prince placard, said: "There was a sponsor so we came," adding he was among one in a busload of people from Taman Medan
Tunku Ismail was one of the key opponents to the government's move to ratify the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court which deals with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression
Tunku Ismail had made his case against the Rome Statute to the Conference of Rulers, claiming that it would threaten Malays, Islam and the position of the monarchy
Putrajaya was eventually forced to backtrack on its decision to ratify the UN convention
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said that the reversal was not because the treaty was bad for the country but due to perception issues caused by an individual "who wanted to continue beating up people"
More than 1,000 people participated at today's rally which was organised by Gerakan Pembela Ummah
The crowd's size was significantly smaller than the previous rally it organised which had a crowd of around 80,000 people at its peak. This was the rally to oppose the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) on Dec 8 last year
Today's rally was hampered by preparations for the Muslim fasting month next week as well as inclement weather
Police put the crowd at between 3,000 and 3,500 people while the organisers claimed 10,000 turned up. - Mkini

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