[6 Video] 150,000 at Penang's largest rally to protest 'cheating' Najib, EC

Ana Ghoib Syeikh Malaya 4:31 PG
BATU KAWAN, PENANG - Yes, Penangites racked up another record on Saturday night, with more than 150,000 packing the Batu Kawan stadium and its vicinity to hear their favorite politicians speak.

And they were not disappointed. Anwar Ibrahim, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, newly-elected Batu Kawan Member of Parliament Kasthuri Patto, newly-elected Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin and Sungei Petani MP Johari Abdul were among those who gave fiery speeches that thrilled the crowd.

"It took me 2 hours just to get here. But you make us proud. We have created a new record and this shows Penang is with the Pakatan Rakyat," Guan Eng said to thunderous applause, adding that the massive traffic jam he had been caught in had stretched some 9km to the Bukit Tambun toll exit.

The sheer size of the crowd led Tze Tzin to warn the Election Commission, which has announced it would be gazetting the results of the 13th general elections this month despite the widespread public complaints, not to take Malaysians for granted.

"That is a result that is rejected by the majority of Malaysians because 51% of the people has rejected BN and only 47% accept BN. That means there is a huge problem with the electoral roll, there is a huge problem with the electoral process. This kind of results, we are in doubt," Tze Tzin told Malaysia Chronicle at the sidelines of the rally.

"We want the Election Commission to give a clear explanation or this country will rise up because of our detection there's been fraud. Malaysian want clean and fair elections."

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Rallies part of "fierce movement" to reclaim "stolen victory"

The 64-year-old Anwar, who had spent the afternoon at a meeting in nearby Bukit Mertajam, was more fortunate. The opposition leader and his wife - PKR president Wan Azizah - took the organizers by surprise when they arrived around 8.30pm or about half an hour before the 9pm start.

"At Kelana Jaya, I had to take a motorbike and then jog, take a bike and jog to finally reach the stadium. So I decided to come early today," Anwar later told the crowd when he made his speech.

Anwar, who leads the Pakatan Rakyat opposition, had refused to concede defeat at the controversial May 5 general election. He has accused Prime Minister Najib Razak and his Umno-BN government of "stealing" the election which was heavily marred by public complaints of fraud and vote-rigging, and has launched a campaign to pressure for a review of the results of at least 26 seats.

 

"This would be the beginning of a fierce movement to rid the country of electoral malpractices and fraud for there is no opportunity for renewal," Anwar had told a packed press conference on Tuesday when launching the Reject GE13 Fraud campaign.

"If it was a free and fair election and if the rakyat (people) had decided to choose BN, then I would concede (defeat). In a faulty fraudulent election where we have evidence to support, I now will continue the fight to defend all Malaysians."

Sister rallies in Perak, Pahang and Johor

The Pakatan is due to hold similar rallies in Perak, Pahang and Johor in a bid to put public pressure on Najib and the Election Commission to acknowledge the complaints and rectify the situation.

In their speeches, both Anwar and Guan Eng lambasted the Umno-BN for massive gerrymandering which had resulted in the Pakatan winning the popular vote or nearly 52% of all votes cast and yet could only lay claim to 89 seats in the 222-seat federal Parliament versus the BN's 133.

They praised the 'Gen Y' phenomenon whereby young Malaysians in their 20s have been openly coming to their rallies and pushing for political change with a fervor never before seen in the country.

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'We need to change, seriously'

Coming hot on the heels of the Kelana rally, Penangites - who had more warning of their event - turned up in even larger numbers and as expected, young Penangites of various races formed at least 70% of the crowd.

At 2pm, the Batu Kawan stadium was already a hive of activity. Not only were the audio and visual crew busily fitting in their apparatus, activists lugging bags of t-shirts, horns, scarves and what-not are setting up stall. So were the tradespeople, from drinks sellers to burgers makers and chee-cheong-fun peddlersall were excited.

As anticipated, Saturday's rally - like the one in Kelana Jaya - turned out to be another youth-led charge against what is widely perceived as social injustice and poor governance in Malaysia.

"Yes, we need to change, seriously," a young lady who had traveled from Kuala Lumpur told Malaysia Chroniclewhen asked if the issues behind the campaign launched earlier this week by Anwar Ibrahim was important.

"We want to show our support to the CM not to give up," the girl and her companions said, when asked why they had come all the way to Batu Kawan, which is in mainland Penang and some 300 kilometers away from Kuala Lumpur.

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New record

One of the event coordinators had told Malaysia Chronicle they had expected a crowd that would at least match Wednesday's more than 150,000 crowd in Kelana Jaya, Selangor. That would already make the Saturday rally Penang's largest ever.

"The stadium itself can take in more than 100,000. With the car park and the surrounding area, we hope to get more than 150,000," he said.

MORE TO COME

Source credit Malaysia Chronicle