More than 100,000 Sarawakians crowd Pakatan's closing rallies

The Sarawak election campaign that electrified the entire nation by drawing out unexpected fervor and passion drew to a close at midnight last night. In a few hours time, Sarawak will be a hive of activity again, this time with voters going out to cast their ballots at centres, which will open at 8am.

But Friday was night that Sarawakians will never forget for a long time.

Tens of thousands of people crowded the main towns, Kuching at least 40,000; Miri 20,000; Sibu 25,000 and Sarikei 20,000. This despite patches of rain at many of the venues.

"Tomorrow Najib Razak and Taib Mahmud will fall together," roared PKR vice president Tian Chua at a rally in Miri.

The applause was deafening. By now, it has become redundant to talk about Sarawakian's hatred for their Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and their suspicion of Prime Minister Najib Razak. As far as the crowds were concerned, they were history. Or would soon become history.

Behind the smiles, daggers are drawn

BN rallies, despite throwing in freebies including lavish dinners and entertainment by top local stars, have been poorly attended. Even the presence of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad was ignored.

"The writing is on the wall. Even a blind man can see. If the momentum is strong enough to overcome the BN cheating at the ballot booths, Pakatan will win," PKR director for strategy Rafizi Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.

"When that happens, the corridors of power in Putrajaya and Umno will be in a tizzy. The first person Najib will try to blame is Taib and Taib will surely fight back. But the people win because finally they will be free of a despot

Sibu and Sarikei

Meanwhile, in Kuching (below), Nurul Izzah the Lembah Pantai MP and daughter of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, enchanted the crowd which kept pulling towards the stage but no one was hurt.

Then in Sarikei (below), the crowds were no different. Pakatan leaders were mobbed as if they were pop stars. And they clamored for Ubah, the DAP's soft-toy mascot, which had already been sold out three days ago.

"People keep asking DAP flags from us. I told them: I don hv any left, please take those along the road!" Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching in Sarikei said on Twitter site.

"Every speaker gets mobbed for autographs and photos when they get off stage," Subang Jaya assemblywoman Hannah Yeoh updated on the Sibu rally.

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