THOUSANDS of people gathered in a downpour last night at Taman Keramat to pledge their support for Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as campaigning for the 14th general election reaches its final days.

In PH’s final ceramah in the Klang Valley, the coalition’s top leaders, including PKR’s Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Amanah’s Mohamad Sabu, rallied the crowd to vote for caretaker Selangor menteri besar Mohamed Azmin Ali, who is contesting in the Gombak parliamentary seat.

Other speakers included former ministers Daim Zainuddin and Rafidah Aziz, and national laureate A. Samad Said who read out a poem to “empower the people” to “get rid of thieves”.

When Dr Mahathir arrived, the crowd broke out into a frenzy chanting “Hidup Tun” (Long live Tun) while waving PKR flags.

When Dr Mahathir took to stage, he pleaded for Malaysians to come out in droves to vote on Wednesday.

“We do not just want to win but we want to win big. If we have a narrow victory, there would be a chance that Najib will cheat.

“This is why we need to come out in thousands to vote. We will see a people’s tsunami in this country,” the PH chairman said.

Dr Mahathir is leaving to contest in Langkawi tomorrow. He is expected to address Malaysians in a special event telecast live nationwide on the eve of elections, May 8, from Langkawi.

Merdeka Centre’s Ibrahim Suffian said last night’s ceramah would also serve as a “morale booster” for the PH machinery and supporters from all over the nation.

The Facebook live stream of the event peaked at 70,000 views from around the world.

Since the start of the 14th general election campaign period, Dr Mahathir has been on tour in several states like Kedah, Johor, Perak, Pahang, Malacca and Penang to push for a victory for PH.

If the opposition bloc wins, the former Umno president will be the first person to be named prime minister twice and would be the longest serving in Malaysia’s 61-year history. – May 7, 2018.