Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

Kota Kinabalu: Some 100 marshals are expected to be on duty throughout the 24-hour Bersih 4.0 'Democracy Fest' gathering scheduled here on Aug 29. Organisers, however, are still tightlipped on the location of their peaceful assembly campout. A committee member, Harieyadi Karmin, on Tuesday said they are still awaiting confirmation from several non-governmental organisations to serve as the rally marshals on that day. "Our target is to have 100 people…we already have 70 names from the May Day sit-in protest held on May 1. "We are looking forward to them helping us again throughout the Democracy Fest," he told the Daily Express.

This is the fourth time Sabah Bersih has called for a people mobilisation, which is held in line with the Bersih 4.0 gathering in Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur and Kuching the same day. Sabah Bersih has already registered confirmed attendance by political parties including the Democratic Action Party (DAP Sabah).

Sabah Bersih Chairwoman Jannie Lasimbang anticipated that some 2,000 people would attend the 24-hour gathering here, which they plan to hold in a 'fiesta' mood. "There will be singing of songs, entertainment and open forum discussions," she said.

Lasimbang also maintained that they will only announce the location of the gathering in accordance to the law, 10 days from the event, which is today (Aug 19). The decision came about after a 'bad experience' Sabah Bersih had during the previous May Day Rally event, where the police obtained a court order, barring the group from entering several areas in the city. This included gathering at Padang Merdeka — where the event was initially planned for — and City Park, Segama waterfront, Dataran Bandaraya and Taman Chong Thien Vun and its surroundings.