Rakyat Ngos Unhappy With Govt Rally May Attract A Million Hamzah

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The opposition believes this Saturday’s “Himpunan Turun Anwar” protest in Kuala Lumpur can attract up to a million participants.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, parliamentary opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin expected the public to turn up in droves, as many are purportedly unhappy with the current government due to “a thousand issues”.
He claimed a similar sentiment was shared by a number of civil society organisations (CSOs) and NGOs that approached the opposition recently.
“Several CSOs in this country had come to see us, including Bersih, C4 Center, Ideas, Transparency International, Projek Sama, and several other NGOs.
“They are unhappy, and when they are not happy, then there is a motivation to ‘turun’ (join) the rally this Saturday.
“Many will be joining the rally, so do not be mad at us, the rakyat wants to protest because so many problems have been accumulating,” said Hamzah, who is the Perikatan Nasional deputy chairperson.
The press conference was held on the sidelines of the Dewan Rakyat sitting today. It was joined by several PN leaders, including its chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan, who is also the PAS secretary-general.
‘Better to resign before rally’
Hamzah, who is also the Larut MP, then gave a rough calculation of his estimation.
“If there are 1,000 issues, it means there are 1,000 groups of people who are unhappy with the issues.
“Let’s say each group has 1,000 people, then we have one million already,” he said.
The Bersatu deputy president urged the government not to discourage the rakyat from taking part in the demonstration.
ADSInstead, he suggested that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim consider stepping down before the public takes to the streets.
“I want to tell the prime minister, let the rakyat speak their mind. If they want to ask you to step down and you feel the need to, then resign.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim“If you resign before the rally, even better. No need to make it hard for the people.”
Mitra slammed over delayed aid to Indians
On a separate matter, PAS’ Kapar MP Halimah Ali said several Indian NGOs held a meeting with opposition representatives yesterday over the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit’s (Mitra) delay in disbursing funds.
Claiming that Mitra has failed to channel a single sen of its allocation to the people, Halimah said 45 NGOs were informed that they would receive updates on their financial assistance application by June 30.
“Mitra issued a statement on May 31 stating that the grant applications from the 45 applicants were endorsed during the unit’s committee meetings, and a request for approval was submitted to the Prime Minister’s Department.
“However, until today, there have been no updates - ille, zero,” she said.
She called on PKR’s Batu MP P Prabakaran, as Mitra’s special task force committee chairperson, to address the concerns raised by the groups, who she said were angry and disappointed by the situation affecting them.
PAS’ Kapar MP Halimah Ali“(Prabakaran) has to take responsibility for this matter and issue a formal statement on the continuous delays… (Such issues) are unacceptable, especially when they involve members of communities who desperately need assistance,” Halimah added.
She noted that the groups are demanding a clear timeline for when the funds would be distributed, which include subsidies to university students, dialysis patients, and childcare centre operators.
She also urged the government to consider restructuring Mitra into a statutory body to ensure its transparency and effectiveness.
Taking issue with Prabakaran’s meeting with separate NGOs earlier this month, Halimah questioned why he initiated engagements with other groups if the previous batch of NGOs had yet to receive their promised funds.
“Who is going to be held responsible? Who has the magic pen? This is a simple matter, and yet it cannot be executed properly,” she said.
Last month, DAP senator Dr A Lingeshwaran urged Anwar to intervene and resolve issues involving Mitra’s delay in disbursing funds to 45 programmes by legitimate NGOs, which had agreements that were approved and signed.
Lingeshwaran also urged Anwar to direct Mitra to release a full public report on the status of the RM100 million allocated under Budget 2025, including the amounts approved, disbursed, and pending.
In response, Prabakaran said the final approval on applications for funds comes from the prime minister.- Mkini

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