1:11PM Aug 29, 2012

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim has denied that the ministry’s Merdeka Day bash at the Bukit Jalil stadium is off limits to opposition party leaders. They are welcome to join the celebration on Friday night, he said.

“It is completely untrue. Whoever comes will be given a seat. The programme held is not for BN people only. Everybody can attend.

“If (DAP parliamentary leader Lim) Kit Siang comes early, (he) can even sit in front, with the prime minister.

“If (PAS president) Abdul Hadi Awang or (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim come, we can prepare special seating in the stadium (for them),” Rais told Utusan Malaysia in an interview, adding that it would be good if the trio could attend the celebration at the stadium.

He said official invitations for the Merdeka Day procession at Dataran Merdeka on Friday morning had been sent to the trio.

On Monday, the ministry secretary-general Kamaruddin Siaraf announced that members of the public could witness the Merdeka spectacle at the Bukit Jalil stadium on four screens outside as the seats inside were only for VIPs, BN component party members, civil servants, schoolchildren and other specially-picked groups.

Kamaruddin also said opposition leaders were not invited into the stadium, but could join the crowd outside because they were “not interested” in the federal government’s Merdeka Day celebration and had even rejected the original logo for the event.

However, Rais the next day said the event is open to the public.

………….

Koh Jun Lin 8:29PM Aug 29, 2012

Despite Information, Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim’s assurance that the public may join the Merdeka Day celebrations at Bukit Jalil, ministry officials could not confirm the number of seats allocated.A ministry spokesperson met after the event’s technical briefing this evening told Malaysiakini that the stadium has a capacity of about 90,000 and that seats were indeed allocated.However when pressed about the number of seats, she said, “I’m not sure. It is whichever seats that are not tagged (as reserved).“The ones that are tagged for those who would be brought in, such as Umno, MCA, and Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma),” said Jasminawati Jamin, an official from the ministry’s corporate communications department.