5th Bersih protest in Malaysia demands prime minister's resignation

On the morning of November 19, hundreds of people wearing yellow shirts gathered on Jalan Bangsar Avenue to participate in the 5th protest in Kuala Lumpur in an effort to pressure Prime Minister Najib Razak to resign.

Channel NewsAsia reported that at 9:58 a.m. (Malaysia time), former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's daughter - Marina Mahathir - appeared at a protest in Jalan Bangsar organized by civil rights group Bersih.

"We are civilized people, not like the red shirts," Marina declared to the crowd surrounding her.

Bersih activists say everyone has heard about the 1MDB scandal but no one understands what happened in this scandal - Photo: AFP

An estimated 7,000 police officers were deployed to deal with the protesters. Police also warned in advance that they could use water cannon and tear gas to suppress the protesters.

The fifth Bersih reform movement protest went ahead on Saturday morning, despite police arresting movement chairwoman Maria Chin Abdullah and secretariat member Mandeep Singh yesterday.

Police searched the group's office in Petaling Jaya that evening and seized several items including laptops, mobile phones and bank documents.

"This cannot break our spirit," Bersih said on Facebook.

Meanwhile, red-shirt protesters, who support Najib's government, are also heading to the headquarters of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party after the road leading to Padang Merbok was blocked.

The red shirts said they were ready to confront the yellow shirts protesters.

Previous Bersih (meaning Clean) rallies have drawn thousands of protesters onto the streets calling for national reform and electoral reforms to make government more transparent.

This year, Bersih is calling on the government to clarify the scandal surrounding state fund 1MDB.

According to Tuoi Tre