WITH Mohamad Sabu, Liew Chin Tong and Amira Aisya, Pakatan Harapan had the right ingredients for a fiery ceramah.

With the Kota Iskandar election operations office on Jalan Utama, Taman Mutiara Rini, Skudai, PH had the right location too.

However, it was devoid of the huge crowds that used to throng PH events.

Maybe it was due to the strict election protocols that only allows 100 people to attend, or maybe it was due to nearby shops closing by 9pm.

Whatever the reason, PH’s first “mega” ceramah of the 2022 Johor elections failed to draw the crowds.

While there were some 100 people around the ceramah tent, these were mainly journalists, party workers and the authorities.

Undeterred, Mohamad, Liew, Amira and others – such as PH Johor chief Aminolhuda Hassan – trained their sights solely on Umno-led Barisan Nasional.

“These are unnecessary elections because they are not due till next year,” Amira said, the Muda candidate for Puteri Wangsa adding that BN lied to the public when it said it called the elections because it wants political stability.

“The political instability is caused by BN. How can it say it wants political stability by calling for more costly elections?” Amira said. 

She added that this is an opportunity for Johor folk to reject this argument and back PH, which won the state in 2018.

Kota Iskandar assemblyman Dzulkefly Ahmad then touted PH’s track record in Johor, which he said managed to improve the state’s revenue, reduce liabilities and increase state reserves to more than RM3 billion. 

The two-hour ceramah finished with Mohamad, a former defence minister, and Liew, an ex-deputy minister.

“We started something good in 2018 when we began increasing minimum wage and introduced reforms such as the white paper for defence.

“As such, don’t turn back the clock,” said Liew.

Mohamad closed the ceramah with his pet topic, former prime minister Najib Razak and the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal. 

While the 1MDB topic is no longer new, it still has some traction.

“I know that PH had its faults when it was in government. There are things I don’t like such as the cutting of funds to TAR-UC,” 61-year-old C.M. Ching said.

“However, the coalition didn’t do so badly overall, while the corruption from the other side is worse,” the retiree said, having watched the ceramah till the end.

Last night’s event may have paled in comparison to those of the 2018 general election, but for supporters like Ching, the issue of corruption still resonates.

The state goes to the poll on March 12. Early voting has been set for Tuesday. – March 2, 2022.