Thousands attend Pakatan ceramah in Umno territory
More than 30,000 people turned up to hear Pakatan leaders tell why its best to vote for them and not for Umno in Johor.
(FMT) – BATU PAHAT: A Pakatan Rakyat ceramah here on Friday managed to attract more than 30,000 people in what Pakatan leaders say is a sign of support moving away from Umno to them.
Never in Johor’s political history has an opposition rally attracted such an enormous crowd.
The assembly was part of the ongoing state-level Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (Peoples’ Uprising Assembly) series being organised by Pakatan nationwide.
It followed the national-level assembly staged in Taman Seremban Jaya in Senawang on Nov 3 which also attracted about 30,000 Malaysians.
Johor PKR chairman Chua Jui Meng and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim arrived together at about 11pm and were pleasantly surprised by the mammoth crowd.
They both had to wade through a sea of people to get to the stage with their shoes and trousers covered with mud. PAS president Hadi Awang was then in the midst of his speech.
After Hadi wrapped up his ceramah, a brief ceremony was held to introduce and accept the membership application forms of several ex-senior Johor civil servants and former key Umno members who joined PAS.
Anwar was then called to the stage to deliver his ceramah and got the crowd roaring when he shot off with: “This is not an Umno assembly! What (Prime Minister and Umno president) Najib (Tun Razak) doesn’t understand is the emergence of Kebangkitan Rakyat (Peoples’ Uprising).”
“Malaysians today are well informed about socio-political issues. They are also much more intelligent and it is not so easy, as in the past, to fool them.
“There is no room for lip service and mere rhetoric in politics anymore. We must tell the rakyat (people) what we can offer and what we can do to provide good governance.
“We must make clear our people-oriented policies and that we are here to serve the people and to ensure their welfare and country’s progress.
“Unlike BN, if we are given the mandate to administer Putrajaya after the next 13th general election, we will ensure the eradication of corruption,” Anwar said.
