PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said he will be at Dataran Merdeka to give full support to the Bersih 3.0 sit-in on Saturday.
In a statement today through his press secretary, he said PAS has called on all its members to join the rally in droves.
“We also urge the police to behave in a rational manner and provide crowd control for the rally," Hadi said.
“They have to learn the lessons of Bersih 2.0, where excessive provocation (from the police) resulted in chaos that was not a result of the protesters’ actions."
Hadi said the struggle for electoral reforms is important to all Malaysians, whether from the opposition or the government, “and also the police”.
“The police need to realise that, under this dirty democracy, they themselves are also constantly and adversely affected.
“Policemen who should be promoted are not, their promotions blocked because of crony elements.
“Furthermore, there are senior policemen who are persecuted with fabricated allegations.
“There are also those who have been hanged for not carrying out the political agenda of the undemocratic government leaders."
The PAS chief blamed this on leaders who “behave badly” in governing the country.
Bersih attendance picks up steam
Apart from Hadi, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is also expected to attend the concurrent rally at the Penang Esplanade, while Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has also indicated his attendance.
The national Federation of Tan Clan Associations, one of the larger Chinese clans in the country, has also called on all its members to give the rally in Dataran Merdeka their full support.
In a statement, the federation said it considers the rally to be an expression of Malaysians’ broad aspirations for greater democracy, and said it had “no political agenda”.
A similar call was issued to members of the umbrella group Federation of Malaysian Chinese Surname Associations.
It added that the Lynas issue, which will be a prelude to the sit-in, was just as important as it was not just a local Kuantan issue but one that would affect the entire nation.
HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd stated today that it will not prohibit its staff from attending the rally "on their personal time". It denied having sent any memorandum to its staff threatening action against anyone found attending the protest.
This, said the bank, was in line with its policy of political neutrality .