THE kleptocracy ceramah and roadshow may have ended but the show is just beginning for Pakatan Harapan, as it tries to overcome the odds and oust Barisan Nasional in the next elections.

The focus at the star-studded event in Pandamaran, Klang, last night, was clearly to convince the people to gather at Padang Timur on October 14 for what the opposition is hoping will be the first of many mammoth rallies in the coming months.

From the first speaker, Pandamaran assemblyman Eric Tan, to the last speaker, Muhyiddin Yassin, most of the speeches centred on encouraging the more than 1,000 Klang voters to show up in force on Saturday.

While Muhyiddin was the main speaker at the last “Save Malaysia, End Kleptocracy” ceramah in Selangor, the laughter was reserved for fellow PH deputy president Mohamad Sabu, better known as Mat Sabu.

Witty and loud with his ironic sense of humour, Mat Sabu had the mixed crowd in stitches when he pointed to a man and asked how old he was.

“Eighty,” the Sikh man replied from the floor.

To which, Mat Sabu said: “And so you have no reason not to attend our big gathering on October 14. In fact, all those under 92 years old have to come on Saturday because Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his wife, Dr Siti Hasmah (Mohamad Ali), are coming.”

The Amanah president said Malaysians need to come out in force to show BN that they are unhappy with the ruling government.

“If you don’t show up, I will come and look for you,” he bellowed, as the crowd laughed with him.

DAP the bogeyman

Another point emphasised in the three-hour-long ceramah was the suggestion that DAP is the power behind PH.

Bersatu deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir said he is guilty of that allegation when he was in Umno.

“This is a ploy Umno uses against the opposition. I, too, had done it when I was in Umno. But there is no truth to this as DAP is only contesting in more than 40 seats.

“The majority of the seats are still being contested by PKR, Bersatu and Amanah. And as such, if we win Putrajaya, the majority of MPs will still be Malay,” said the former Umno deputy minister.

Earlier, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said in a statement he never once thought of becoming prime minister in his 52 years in politics on the same day that Umno information chief Annuar Musa continued to sell the DAP bogeyman narrative in Bachok.

“We must oppose any party that supports DAP as we don’t want DAP to ‘take over’ even when it’s not the ruling party, like what has happened in Selangor,” said Annuar.

The show must go on

Although it was the last ceramah in Selangor under the anti-kleptocracy campaign, Muhyiddin said this was not the end.

“This is just the beginning. We will continue with the big gathering on October 14 (in Padang Timur). And we will push on until election day.

“The ceramah need to hit all levels of people on the ground and we will focus on seats like Felda and the ones we feel are important for us. The message must be delivered,” said Muhyiddin after the ceramah.

The Bersatu president said PH will step up the pace as elections can be any time from now until next August.

“We don’t know when elections are going to be and we cannot take any chance.

“We need to address the fears of the Malays, Chinese and Indians which Barisan Nasional have created. There’s still a lot that needs to be done.”

The other speakers last night were PKR’s Azmizam Zaman Huri and Nurul Izzah Anwar, DAP’s Lim, Charles Santiago and Tony Pua and Bersatu’s Dr Rais Husin. – October 9, 2017.