Huge turnout at Dr M's homestate ceramah, DAP sounds tsunami alert for Umno

A Pakatan Harapan ceramah in Dr Mahathir Mohamad's home-state of Kedah last night had attracted thousands.

DAP lawmaker Liew Chin Tong, who claimed that the turnout was 15,000, said it signalled an impending seismic shift in the political landscape.

Come the 14th general election, the Kluang MP is convinced that a Malay tsunami would hit the nation.

"Under a 'White Terror' (suppression of dissidents) atmosphere, people were still willing to turn up for the ceramah in the rain for hours. They may influence five others when they return home.

"A mass event such as this could be a benchmark, particularly when there is a media blackout (on Harapan's events)," he said in a Facebook posting in Mandarin.

Mahathir was also present at the Guar Chempedak ceramah.

Similarly, Liew said Harapan's ceramah in rural areas in the Umno bastion of Johor had drawn several hundred people, which was unimaginable in the past.

"The Chinese media and The Star, which are controlled by MCA, often deny the occurrence of a Malay tsunami. They also interviewed Malay leaders so that they could deny a tsunami taking form.

"As the first politician to raise the phenomenon of a Malay tsunami, I wonder why they never came to me (for comment)?” he added.

Liew said when he first raised the prospect of a Malay tsunami in 2015, there was a vacuum in the Malay leadership.

“(Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) was beleaguered by scandals, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang leaned to Najib and Harapan de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim was sent to prison,” he added.

Liew said Najib ignored the plight of the people and implemented the GST much to their chagrin.

"If the opposition can obtain the votes of 15 percent of the Malays who supported BN in the 2013 general election and maintain the same level of support from Chinese and Indian voters, then BN will lose at least 40 parliamentary seats in the peninsula this time," he added.

The DAP lawmaker claimed that the semi-urban agriculture smallholders would especially swing to the opposition.

Mahathir has positioned his Malay-based party Bersatu as an alternative to Umno.

Harapan is banking on the 92-year-old former premier to convince the Malays to vote for the opposition coalition and neutralise Umno's claims that DAP is a threat to the position of the Malays and Islam.

Previously, Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hassan claimed that while the Mahathir factor might cause a ripple, it would not be able to generate a tsunami. -Mkini