A member from Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat, who wished to remain anonymous, said a handful of them had decided to set up the movement in March.
“It was just a few of us who decided to protest in front of Parliament against the delay in implementing Undi18,” he told FMT.
However, they went all out with their cause after the government delayed the parliamentary sitting.
“That was a big no-no for us. Malaysia practises parliamentary democracy and everything has to go through the Dewan Rakyat. Yet, the government was delaying it.”
Meanwhile, he said as frustrations grew over the surge in Covid-19 cases and the struggling economy, they started campaigns through social media hashtags of #lawan and #KerajaanGagal to further express their dissatisfaction with the government.
“The increase in suicide cases and mental health issues due to prolonged lockdowns was also a concern to us,” he added.
These efforts saw their support base grow after over 200,000 mentions of the hashtags showing support for the movement, he said.
According to the spokesman, the movement does not have any political affiliation and their members are made up of university students and young Malaysians.
“We now also have over 20 different NGOs and civil societies supporting us too,” he said, adding that the movement is gaining momentum with more people flying black flags from their homes.
The members have three basic demands. They want the prime minister to step down, MPs to be allowed to debate during the five-day sitting of Parliament from July 26, and an automatic loan moratorium for all without any interest.
The members said if their demands are not met, they will continue to hold protests either through social media or small gatherings.
“We have enough people to carry out more effecte actions but we do not want that for now. We respect the frontliners who are fighting the pandemic,” he said.
However, they will continue to intensify the campaigns through social media to ensure their demands are met.
Yesterday, a group of youths from the Black Flag Movement gathered in front of Dataran Merdeka to protest against the Perikatan Nasional-led government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Around 40 people were seen waving black flags and carrying a banner with the hashtag #KeluarDanLawan (come out and fight) while standing in front of several fake “bodies”.
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