More than 10,000 came, Amanah claims after PAS thumbs nose at Saturday rally

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) politicians have disagreed with PAS’s claim that yesterday’s rally against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) drew poor response from the public.

According to party information chief Khalid Samad, more than 10,000 attended the event, although he admitted to not having the exact figures.

“Based on our observation, Dataran Merdeka was packed. I don’t have exact figures, but I believe that more than 10,000 people were there,” he was quoted saying in The Star Online.

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, on the other hand, pointed out that the party only had a week to mobilise supporters for the rally.

As such, he said, the turnout met the party’s expectations.

“We only had one week to organise the rally, so the turnout was expected. Unlike Bersih, they had six months to do it. So the (turnout at the) protest yesterday was satisfactory,” he was quoted saying in the same report.

Khalid added that the crowd may have appeared smaller because many may not have stayed on throughout the rally from noon until 5.30pm due to the afternoon heat.

He said, however, that the gathering held in conjunction with the one-year rollout of the consumption tax system had succeeded in proving a point.

Earlier today, PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man claimed that yesterday’s rally recorded a poor turnout of supporters and said this was because the Islamist party did not participate in the event.

According to The Star Online, Tuan Ibrahim said the protest lacked a mobilisation strategy like previous demonstrations that involved the Islamist party.

Yesterday’s rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the GST rollout drew thousands to the streets of the capital.

The event went by smoothly despite earlier warnings by the police against using Dataran Merdeka, and ended by 5.30pm after several speeches by opposition figures and a surprise showing by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

A rally on the same issue held in May last year before the fallout between PAS and its former Pakatan Rakyat partners reportedly attracted a larger turnout.