By Shannon TeohPARLIAMENT, July 14 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar today apologised for the inconvenience to the public but said police roadblocks across Kuala Lumpur was in the interest of public safety despite causing a massive gridlock.
Police set up roadblocks at strategic points in the city to prevent a planned gathering to protest fuel price hikes and even had a court order against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim barring him from within a 5km radius of the Parliament but opposition parties have denied organising any protests.
"I am sorry there is a lot of inconvenience to the public but it is in the interest of public safety. After the police got the order, I know Pakatan Rakyat issued instructions to pull out. We have evidence to show that they do interfere with public interest," Syed Hamid told reporters in Parliament.
Even reporters had trouble entering Parliament earlier as police barred their entry, forcing them to miss the first half hour of today's Dewan Rakyat proceedings. But Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz cleared the confusion with the police, who were under strict orders to restrict entry to the Parliament.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia weighed in on the debate by saying that the police were only charged with security and to prevent disturbances outside Parliament.
"If there is a security risk that is brought to my attention, then action must can be taken to prevent this." he said, adding he was stopped by police as anyone could also have a car similar to his Proton Perdana Executive with a Parliament badge.
But DAP secretary-general and Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng called the police action akin to turning the Parliament into a "police state".
"I don't see any security threat. And then reporters were barred because they came after 9am. This is making a mockery of democracy, not respecting press freedom. Parliament should not be under siege, but should be open to the public to observe a participatory democracy. We want to see democracy in action not police action," he said.
"This is all a ploy by BN to stop Anwar from entering Parliament. If the BN is so great, then face him," said Azmin Ali, the PKR MP for Gombak.
Anwar is disputing the court order, calling it slander and an abuse of legal process. He was expected to be in Parliament when a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister was expected to be debated. However the Speaker has rejected the motion.
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