KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysian police have fired water cannons at ethnic Malays who turned unruly at a rally to support Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government, following calls for Najib to step down over a financial scandal.
Hundreds of protesters pelted riot police with plastic bottles Wednesday and tried to push their way into Chinatown, which was barricaded, prompting riot police to fire chemical-laced water to disperse the crowd.
Thousands of others were rallying peacefully at a central field near Parliament.
The rally, which included Cabinet members and leaders from Najib’s ruling Malay party, was held to counter a protest in late August by tens of thousands of Malaysians to demand Najib’s ouster and political reforms.
Wednesday’s protesters accused ethnic Chinese of driving last month’s demonstration.