PAKATAN BOUNCES BACK – FIRST NIGHT, MALAYSIA ALREADY FIRED UP: TENS OF THOUSANDS PACK PENANG TO HEAR GUAN ENG, MARINA MAHATHIR & NURUL IZZAH SPEAK – THE MORE EC IS SEEN AS CHEATING TO HELP BN, THE MORE THE PEOPLE REJECT NAJIB’S GOVT

GEORGE TOWN— 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.

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.

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.

Pakatan could lose in Penang by dropping 12 seats, says Guan Eng

GEORGE TOWN- Pakatan Harapan (PH) may lose hold of Penang if predictions that the coalition will be defeated in up to 12 seats come true, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said.

The Penang lawmaker said punters are betting that PH will lose at least eight state seats in Penang.

“They said we could lose a maximum of 12 seats and if that happen, it means we lose power in Penang,” he told reporters after a mass PH ceramah at the Esplanade here last night.

He told the people not to gamble on this and to come out to vote instead.

“We should not treat our opponents lightly because if we look at nomination day, they are playing dirty, they will cheat their way through,” he said.

The caretaker Penang chief minister said it is important for PH leaders to work hard and get the support of the people.

Earlier in the ceramah, he called on everyone to come out to vote on May 9.

He said it is important for all to vote that day and give PH a big mandate both in state and in Parliament.

“We want to change the federal government so we need more votes but we don’t want to change the state government so the people must give us the mandate to continue governing the state,” he said.

PH held two simultaneous large-scale ceramah, one on the island and one on the mainland last night, to kick off the campaign for the 14th general election.

Tens of thousands of people turned up at both ceramahs that were held from 8.30pm till around midnight.

Penang has a total 40 state seats and PH held 29 seats while PAS held one and Barisan Nasional (BN) held 10.

MALAY MAIL