IT may be the seat of government, but civil servants turned up in droves last night at a Pakatan Harapan (PH) ceramah in Putrajaya to listen to speakers from the opposition, led by its prime minister candidate Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Several thousand people packed a muddy field, standing for three hours listening to speakers reassure them that their vote was secret.

“And even if they (Barisan Nasional) find out, so what? If you all mark ‘X’ on the PKR logo, there will be a new government,” said Haniff Khatri Abdulla, Dr Mahathir’s lawyer, who was on stage as one of the opening acts.

The country’s 1.4 million civil servants have long been a vote bank for BN.

But civil servant Mohd Zubir Amry, 34, said he believed many of his colleagues would vote for PH this time.

“The high cost of living is the main issue for us. Civil servants’ salaries cannot keep pace with the price of goods,” he said when met at the ceramah next to the Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin mosque, also known as the Iron Mosque.

“A civil servant earning RM2,000 now should by right be earning RM5,000. In developed countries, 2,000 in their currency is what a janitor would earn,” said Zubir, who lives in Precinct 18.

He said he was earning only RM3,000 a month after working for 10 years in the government.

Another public sector employee, Zainal Ismail, who lives in Precinct 10, also spoke about the high cost of living.

“The Jualan Sentuh Hati Rakyat here was well received but that is not held everyday. We’re talking about everyday needs. With the goods and services tax (GST), we struggle on a daily basis,” he said, referring to the cheap sales of grocery and food items held by government ministries.

Zainal said he felt the sentiment among civil servants in GE14 was “different” than the mood in previous elections.

“People are thinking. They start thinking when the cost of living affects them and hear news of scandals involving leaders,” he said.

Asked if the majority of the crowd at the ceramah were indeed civil servants and whether they felt cautious about attending an opposition gathering in Putrajaya, Zainal said he recognised “many faces of his colleagues” present.

“What is there to be afraid of? We remain civil servants but Parliament is dissolved right now. Who can tell us what to do?”

Another civil servant, Hafiz Mustapai, 34, said he was inspired by his former boss at the agriculture ministry who is now a PH candidate – Mohd Yazid Abdullah – who is with Amanah and is standing in the Kuala Krai parliamentary seat in Kelantan.

“He was a deputy director. So it’s not true civil servants are scared to support the opposition.

“Here in Putrajaya, there is support… they may not say it openly but you can tell from the way they talk. I would say six out of 10 people are supportive of the opposition,” said Hafiz.

When Dr Mahathir finally took the stage, the crowd shouted “Hidup Tun!”

Zubir said he had no issue with the former prime minister now being part of the opposition.

“Dr Mahathir made mistakes but he has said sorry and his actions show it. Why else would such an old man be doing this. In Islam, we understand that a person makes mistakes and if he says sorry, we will forgive him.”

Putrajaya will see a three-cornered fight between the incumbent, BN’s Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Samsu Adabi Mamat (PKR) and Zainal Abidin Kidam (PAS).

Tengku Adnan won the seat in 2013 by 5,541 votes in a straight fight with PAS. – May 4, 2018.