KUALA LUMPUR: A poster bearing the words “Demokrasi Mati, Ayuh Turun ke Jalan” (Democracy is Dead, Let's Take to the Streets!), which went viral on social media on Monday, motivated over 100 people to hold a protest at Dataran Merdeka here, on Tuesday night.
The peaceful gathering was made up of representatives of non-governmental organisations, human rights activists, university student association leaders, and members of the public.
The 'leaderless' assembly, which was monitored by approximately 30 police officers, was held to inform politicians that the rakyat are “demanding a clear answer on the ongoing political turmoil.”
According to conservation activist Harjinder Kler, who gave a speech at the assembly, the gathering expressed what the rakyat is feeling at the moment.
"The people are angry. People feel left in the dark and cheated. I feel like the (poster) was enough to get the people to come down here.
"I hope it reminds people who could possibly be making a backdoor deal that we can make more 'noise',” he said.
Harjinder added that the people will take to the streets in huge numbers if those they voted for are dropped from government.
"You cannot bring back all these people who are now (possibly) going to jail," he said.
Student activist Azura Nasron, 24, said the rakyat should be reminded to stand up against corrupt politicians.
"We have been fighting for long. And we will continue to fight injustice. We refuse a backdoor government.
"We voted out corrupt politicians, and the rakyat will only be angrier if they are back in office.
"We need answers now. We cannot afford to wait for more days until we get a clear answer.
"There is the possibility of another assembly if we do not get our answers in the near future," she said.
Prominent student activist Wong Yan Ke said the rakyat have been betrayed for far too long.
Wong called for a snap election to be held if the new government isn’t in favour of the rakyat.
Some protesters at the rally held placards saying “Apa jadi dengan undi kami?” (What happened to our votes?), “Reformasi please, not a soap opera!”, among others.
The majority of the attendees said they are not afraid to take to the streets again.
"We showed them our power on May 9 two years ago.
"The power of the people is real, we're not scared, and we will fight injustice together," Wong added.