By Xinhua,
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi vowed on Sunday to retain the peace and safety in his country.
The Malaysian government wanted to ensure a situation in which the people don’t need not worry or be afraid, Badawi told the national Bernama news agency when commenting on the demonstration organized by certain groups as well as the current political developments.
Badawi said that he was perturbed by what was happening as “the people are becoming fed up with the political maneuvers taking place currently”.
“Slandering have become more rampant. One no longer cares whether the accusations are true or otherwise,” he was cited by Bernama as saying.
The prime minister noted that his priority in facing the current situation was to focus on the main issue of tackling the price increase of fuel and other goods.
He said that he did not see the rationale for the continued demonstrations, accusing it of playing politics purely to create instability that could jeopardize people’s safety. It is also aimed at toppling the government elected by the people, he added.
Thousands of supporters of opposition parties and organizations Sunday defied orders by the authorities to join a rally organized by the Coalition Against the Fuel Price Hike at a stadium in the satellite city of Petaling Jaya near the capital, according to Bernama reports.
Many of demonstrators wore red T-shirts and shouted anti-government slogans as they gathered to listen to speeches from their leaders throughout the day.
Police were closely monitoring the rally carrying the theme “Protest of One Million People”, which was held without a police permit, the reports said.
Police said that they would monitor the speeches by demonstrators and detect elements of sedition and conduct investigations if there are such things.
On June 5, the Malaysian government announced the restructure of the fuel subsidy to reduce the country’s deficit, raising the price of petrol up by 78 sen to 2.70 ringgit (1 U.S. dollar trading about 3.2 ringgit) per liter, and the price of diesel up by 1 ringgit to 2.58 ringgit.
The organizers of the rally were trying to press the government to lower the fuel prices, Bernama said.