GEORGE TOWN, April 29 — Tens of thousands of people crowded fields in Butterworth and Esplanade last night to attend the Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) first mega ceramah, or rally, for thee upcoming general election.

PH held simultaneous mega ceramahs on the mainland and on the island, but still drew huge crowds that filled both fields.

Both ceramahs featured speakers from PH component parties such as Parti Amanah Negara’s Faiz Fadzil, PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM) Marzuki Yahya, and DAP’s Lim Guan Eng with PPBM chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s daughter, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, making a special guest appearance.

Most of the speakers used the ceramahs to remind voters that all PH parties — DAP, PKR, PPBM and Amanah — were using the PKR logo this election.

Advertisement

Marina told the crowd that her father had to give up retirement and his family time to contest again for the sake of the country.

“When he retired in 2003, he finally had more time to spend with his family and grandchildren but now he has to sacrifice this time with family to lead the country again so I hope all of you will support him,” she said to loud cheers from the crowd.

She called on all registered voters to make sure they come out in full force to cast their votes on May 9.

Advertisement

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said about 120,000 people turned up for PH’s mega ceramahs, citing the numbers as proof of the people’s support for PH.

He also brought up the disqualification of some PH candidates, namely incumbent Batu MP Tian Chua.

“So we need the people to come forward and vote for change,” the caretaker Penang chief minister said.

He said in Penang, PH wants to retain its 30 state seats and at the same time win over three Parliamentary seats.

“We want to win the parliamentary seats but we don’t want to lose any state seats,” he said.

He said the time to change the federal government is now so voters must ensure there is a chance or they might have to wait for another 61 years.

At the end of the ceramah in Esplanade, it was announced that PH raised about RM45,321 in donations from the public.