Demanding democratic reform ahead of the UK election

'Occupy Democracy' campaigners say the archaic voting system fails to reflect the people's true needs and desires. 

London, United Kingdom - Activists in the UK are braving a draconian crackdown on public protest to stage a "festival of democracy" outside the Houses of Parliament in London, demanding "system change not regime change" amid predictions that Thursday's general election could pitch the country into political chaos.
"Occupy Democracy" campaigners have been gathering since May 1 in Parliament Square, a grass-covered traffic island populated by tourists and statues, to call for political reforms including restrictions on corporate influence and a "citizen-led constitutional convention for real democracy".
They say they intend to stay until at least May 10, despite heavy-handed policing and several arrests already, and believe their numbers could swell from Friday as frustration mounts over post-election uncertainty and doubts about the legitimacy of the UK's current voting system.

Donnachadh McCarthy accused police of roughing him up as he protested in front of a statue of Gandhi

"Politics isn't something that is done to us and that is what this is about. There is a symbolic edge to what we are doing because this is the physical heart of our so-called democracy," Matt Bonner, an Occupy Democracy activist, told Al Jazeera.

"Hopefully we can start to talk about some tangible things that we can begin to do to be more inclusive and to enact something verging on real democracy."
Activists say they are also seeking to challenge restrictions on the right to protest outside parliament imposed 10 years ago when the square became a gathering point for anti-war campaigners opposed to British involvement in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Although softened in 2011, current laws forbid protesters from erecting tents or other structures or using amplified noise equipment.
Police state?
Last year, activists managed to stage a 10-day occupation of the square, despite authorities erecting a fence around the site, which they said was necessary to protect the grass.
On Monday afternoon, three people were arrested as they meditated in a pop-up tent in front of a recently erected statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the edge of the square, as part of a demonstration for action to tackle climate change. Activists said about 50 police had been involved in making the arrests and dismantling the tent.
"We decided to demonstrate in a peaceful way at the feet of Gandhi as an act of civil disobedience because we have been arrested repeatedly for sitting on a tarpaulin," Donnachadh McCarthy, one of those arrested, told Al Jazeera.
"In this square it is illegal to have a tent, it is illegal to have tarpaulin, it is illegal to have a loudhailer, it is illegal to play a protest song, and the idea that they put in a statue of the patron saint of civil disobedience beggars belief.
"It was a beautiful event. We had music, we had meditation, and at the end we draped Gandhi in a tarpaulin shawl and set up a tent and that was too much for the police state."
McCarthy, 55, said police officers had dragged him away, twisting his ankle and his knee and pulling muscles in his neck. His hands were also swollen and cut from being handcuffed.
"They kettled a tiny tent with three people inside chanting. It was quite brutal and I ended up screaming so much I lost my voice. It shows to my mind the moral bankruptcy of our government on both protest and the crucial issue of climate crisis."