KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Thousands of people have gathered outside the Masjid Jamek LRT station here today in a highly-touted giant street rally to pressure the government to free jailed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and to show discontent against perceived injustice in the country.
Most are wearing black T-shirts that spell out the name of their hashtag movement, #KitaLawan, while others read “Rakyat Hakim Negara (People are the country’s judge).”
Under the exhortations of their leaders, the demonstrators have been raising their voices in a deafening cry of “Kita lawan, kita lawan (We fight, we fight)”, drawing the attention of passing pedestrians and motorists, some who respond with honks in what appears to be a show of support.
The demonstrators also hold up banners with diverse messages; one featuring Anwar’s face, reads: “When dictatorship is a fact, revolution is a duty”.
The rally-goers look to be from all walks of life with some from out of state to join in the gathering.
One woman and her 70-year-old mother told Malay Mail Online that they had travelled from Yong Peng, Johor.
“We are here to show the government that they can’t just do anything they want. It’s important to show them that we will speak up. It’s not necessarily about Anwar,” said the woman who declined to be named.
Several opposition politicians later stood on an elevated makeshift stage to address the crowd that ballooned after 3pm, including PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and DAP federal lawmaker Anthony Loke.
“Despite all the threats made against us, we as Malaysians know our democratic rights and we are not afraid of their threats,” he said.
The police had yesterday warned the public against taking part in the rally, saying the organisers had not followed the conditions laid down in the Peaceful Assembly Act, though they stopped short of calling it illegal.
Loke, who spoke next, sought to raise the crowd’s spirits further in the absence of the charismatic Anwar and pointed to the senior PKR leader’s daughter as the next in line to carry the torch.
As if on cue, Nurul Izzah Anwar, the Opposition Leader’s eldest daughter and a second-term MP for Lembah Pantai, then stepped up.
“We said we will march. We will. We will fight on!” she said to roars from the crowd now numbering in the thousands before leading them towards the Sogo shopping complex on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, where they are to converge with other groups.
The demonstrators poured onto the road, mingling with the cars and foot traffic, singing their “Reformasi” anthem to the tune of the “Saints go marching in”.
Broadcasts from speakers, mounted on the back of several pick-up trucks, punctuated the festive air as the procession made its way forward.
Police presence along the route appeared minimal with only six officers spotted by Malay Mail Online.
The police, however, appeared to have blocked off the roads leading to that area, which helped ease the passage for the demonstrators to occupy the main Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman-Jalan Campbell intersection outside Sogo.
And then, the rain came, but the demonstrators looked unperturbed by the afternoon shower as they turned onto Jalan Sultan Ismail and continued their march towards the Petronas Twin Towers in the city centre.
As they reached the intersection of Jalan Kia Peng and Jalan Ampang just outside the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) shopping complex, Nik Nazmi told the crowd that their rally today was a success.
According to the Selangor deputy assembly speaker, their crowd size which he estimated to be 10,000-strong, reflected the support of the people for Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal opposition pact.
“I would like to congratulate everyone because we have succeeded in marching here... this shows that the rakyat are fed up and that they want change,” he said, from his spot on the back of a pick-up truck.
The Seri Setia assemblyman described today’s mammoth rally as the “rise of the people” to bring down the Barisan Nasional government.
Another PKR leader and Batu MP Chua Tian Chang had said that the opposition will plan more rallies in the future following today’s success.
“This is not the end. They will see more of us,” he said.
Last month, the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s 2014 ruling that had reversed Anwar’s acquittal of sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and sentenced the Permatang Pauh lawmaker to five years’ jail.
Anwar remains MP and federal opposition leader until his royal pardon petition is decided as provided for under Article 42 (4)(centre) of the Federal Constitution.
