Organisers get Stadium Merdeka for Jan 12 rally

Organisers of the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat have been allowed to use the historical Stadium Merdeka to hold their rally on Saturday.

Batu MP Tian Chua confirmed the approval by the Stadium Merdeka management on his Twitter account @TianChua today.

"The (Stadium Merdeka) managment responded to the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat committee that the application to use Merdeka Stadium has been approved. Long live the people!" the tweet read.

Tian Chua is the national vice president for Keadilan and is part of the organising committee for this rally.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that the owner of the Merdeka Stadium and the management of the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil have no reservations to approve an application by the opposition to use the stadium for their proposed gathering.

However, both managements stressed that the organiser must adhere to the terms and conditions for using their facility.

Merdeka Heritage Trust in a statement today said among the requirements set by the Merdeka Stadium management is to ensure that the gathering was limited to 30,000 people.

"The condition is to ensure the gathering did not exceeed the stadium's capacity of 30,000 so as to safeguard the structure and assets of the stadium that have been declared as national heritage," said the statement.

According to the statement, the organisers had requested permission to use the stadium from 2pm to 5pm on Saturday.

Perbadanan Stadium Malaysia Corporation said PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu had submitted an official application to use the National Stadium for a gathering on Saturday.

"The dates for the gathering was stated as either Jan 12 or Jan 19," said the statement from the corporation.

"The organiser must follow the procedures for booking the stadium like paying a deposit, rental and ensure no damage to facilities or property. These conditions are printed on the application form."