May 1 anti-GST rally to go on at Jalan Raja

The May Day rally, that has been deemed illegal by the police, will be held at Jalan Raja instead of the field at Dataran Merdeka.

The protest committee spokesperson S. Arutchelvan said this is because the field is closed-off for renovations, as informed by the police earlier.

“We have informed the police earlier this morning that we will gather at Jalan Raja because we want to the rally to be in the vicinity of Dataran Merdeka.

“The police have agreed to it and they said as long as we don’t gather in the field, it's fine. So we think there will be no problem for us to gather at Jalan Raja,” he told Astro AWANI.

Arutchelvan said they have rejected the police’s offer of Stadium Merdeka and Padang Merbok as alternative venues and insist on having the gathering in the vicinity of Dataran Merdeka due to its historical significance.

Earlier, Dang Wangi OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Ahmad labelled the rally as illegal because the organisers only submitted a notice for the rally before the mandatory ten day period, but failed to get permission from the owners of the venue where the rally is going to be held.

The rally, organised by several NGOs such as Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM), is set to protest the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

They are planning to converge at Dataran Merdeka after gathering at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) first.

It is scheduled to begin at 2pm.