SEKRETARIAT Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) is not a political movement, but rather it is a movement demanding the government restore democracy at a time of political instability, spokesperson Mohd Asraf Sharafi Mohd Azhar said.

Asraf said the group is merely echoing what dissatisfied Malaysians, politicians and political parties have expressed, that is to ask Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to step down, for Parliament to convene and for an automatic loan moratorium to ease the economic hardship brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Having organised three protests, online and on the ground, the group is now preparing for a much bigger protest slated to take place on August 21, despite warning from the police not to do so.

“Our demand is deemed political because we are living in a politically unstable environment where our government is more concerned about maintaining power than good governance,” Asraf told The Malaysian Insight.

“Parliament needs to reopen properly to restore democracy and allow MPs to determine the next course of action.

“The legitimacy of the government must be tested in Parliament, and not by secret statutory declarations.”

SSR has so far been responsible for three protests, starting with the #BenderaHitam protest on social media on July 3, where the group encouraged Malaysians to fly a black flag to show their dissatisfaction towards the government.

This was followed by a smaller protest in Dataran Merdeka on July 17 and a black flag convoy on July 31.

To its critics who have branded SSR as an “immature” organisation stemming from the “Bangsar bubble”, Asraf said the group has made its agenda quite clear and, if not for movement restrictions, the protest would have seen a bigger turnout from all levels of society.

“The struggles of the rakyat permeate at every level, judging by the online participation of Bendera Putih and Bendera hitam online.

“The #KeluarDanLawan protest was focused on Kuala Lumpur due to border restrictions and Covid-19. We believe that if we can mobilise 2,000 people with these limitations, we can definitely get more without them,” he said, adding that people all over the country also took part in the convoy protest.

Mega protest

Over the weekend, SSR announced that a much bigger protest will take place on August 21 if Muhyiddin does not step down by them.

The prime minister has been under pressure to resign following allegations that he no longer holds a majority in Parliament.

However, Muhyiddin announced that a vote of confidence will take place in September to prove he still does have a majority.

“We expect the turnout to be higher than previously. The anger and frustration of the people will translate into action, and we aim to give them the space to react.

“We hope to work with diverse communities and civil society groups to engage wider participation.”

While the police facilitated the first protest on July 31, SSR members and participants have been subject to police investigation and intimidation.

Since early last week, police have summoned 29 of the #Lawan rally participants for formal interview at police stations.

Asraf said SSR members co-operated with the police. However, the police, he said, have gone overboard by turning up at the member’s homes.

“We always turn up at the police station when the police ask us to give statements.

“We feel they are a bit overboard by going to our homes to check where we live, even after we had co-operated with them.”

He added that instead of intimidating the organisers and participants, the police and the IGP should co-operate with them.

“We are willing to talk and engage with the police to make the protest safer. All we are doing is voicing our demands peacefully. The police should help facilitate this.”

The next Bersih?

Ashraf said that SSR does not have the intention to take over electoral watchdog Bersih’s role as organisers of street protest and rallies. He said the group just wants to represent the voice of the youths in the nation.

“This (street protest) is the last choice for us. We have done the online protest and the convoy but the government did not listen to us,” he said.

He added that SSR had approached Bersih to join the protest on July 31 but the organisation did not mobilise its members, instead it told SSR it will support the organisation in the event of actions by the authorities.

“Actually, for this rally, we also reached out to all the political parties because it’s part of their demands also for Parliament to convene. We even reached out to Umno.

“We approached the political party’s youth wing leaders such as Asyraf Wajdi Dusuk from Umno, PKR’s youth chief Akmal Nasrullah Nasir and Pakatan Harapan’s late youth chief Syazni Munir.

“Some rejected us, while some were OK, but they did not mobilise their members.”

In terms of attracting support from the older generation, Asraf said they can only hope that their messages on social media reach this group of people.

“If they want to support the cause, they can do so from their homes.”

For organising a protest during the pandemic, SSR has been subjected to severe criticism for blatantly putting people’s lives at stake while the healthcare system is in a critical state.

“Covid-19 is the most worrying part for us too. We know that with the pandemic, the situation is not stable, especially with the emergence of the Delta variance.

“We have taken precautionary measures. In our standard operating procedure, we have pre-rally and post-rally guidelines.

“If they want to join the protest but they are living with high risk individuals, we don’t encourage them to join. We ask them to record their temperature, do an RTK-antigen test before and after the rally if they have symptoms.” – August 9, 2021.