KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — Bersih 2.0 said today it welcomes Umno Youth's offer to publicly talk about its demands for electoral reform.

“That's fine. We are prepared to do that,” the civil society coalition's chief, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, told a news conference here today.

She appeared pleasantly surprised by the offer from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin’s Youth wing, made publicly on Twitter, for both groups to hold joint talks over how the country’s electoral system can be reformed.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had led a counter rally to Bersih 2.0’s mammoth demonstration in the city last Saturday.

“We are publicly prepared to debate Bersih 2.0's demands with anyone,” Ambiga said, and included the Election Commission (EC) in its list despite the latter’s previous harsh criticism against the civil society’s campaign.

Ambiga (picture) said it was a “very healthy” way to carry forward electoral reform in Malaysia, adding that there was no need for another public rally if the authorities would consider Bersih 2.0’s demands.

She asked the public to continue to help push forward the agenda for reform in a peaceful way by wearing “something yellow” every Saturday.

She said the police were still harassing people who wear the yellow Bersih 2.0 T-shirts as the home minister has yet to lift its order outlawing the coalition, but the cops had stopped arresting people for donning the colour. 

Lawyer Andrew Khoo, also a member of the Bersih 2.0 steering committee, reminded the movement’s supporters they could make a difference by immediately registering as voters for the next general election, still widely expected to be called by early next year.