Malaysian anti-government group launches campaign to oust premier
Bangkok - A Malaysian pro-democracy group began a nationwide campaign on Saturday to attempt to force Prime Minister Najib Razakto step down over corruption allegations.
The civil society group Bersih 2.0, comprised of nearly 100 Malaysian NGOs, said it plans to hold anti-government events in 246 locations across the country over the next seven weeks, culminating in a major rally in Kuala Lumpur on November 19.
Saturday's kickoff occurred in six different regions of Malaysia. Supporters of Bersih 2.0 plan to gradually converge in convoys toward Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur.
The group hopes to encourage Malaysians to stand up to perceived government abuses of power and corruption, and to demand electoral reforms, a freer press and stronger public institutions.
Bersih staged similar rallies in August 2015, demanding institutional reforms and the resignation of the prime minister. The group claimed that half a million people participated in last year's two-day event in Malaysia and abroad.
Najib has been at the centre of a corruption scandal since July 2015, when a Wall Street Journal report suggested that US$673 million in the prime minister's personal bank accounts had been siphoned off from a beleaguered state fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
- DPA
