Despite political fatigue, #KitaLawan’s 10k turnout commendable, say analysts
Pakatan Rakyat's ability to pull in a 10,000 crowd to its #KitaLawan rally today is commendable, say analysts, despite the opposition pact’s dented image due to incessant spats among its allies, lack of endorsement from the PAS leadership, and with Malaysians weary of politics and preoccupied with the rising cost of living.
Although this number is far from the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets during the 1998 Reformasi demonstrations to protest against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's sacking from the federal government and in Bersih’s 2012 rally calling for free and fair elections, observers said today's turnout was telling as it managed to attract younger Malaysians to take part.
The youth form an important voting bloc, especially since about 450,000 Malaysians turn 21 each year and some 70% of the estimated 4.2 unregistered voters are between the ages of 21 and 40.
Today's protest was in support of the jailed Opposition leader and to call for resignation of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The Federal Court on February 10 upheld a Court of Appeal verdict of March 7 last year that found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008. He was sentenced to five years’ jail, and is serving his sentence at the Sungai Buloh prison.
"The turnout is significant and hitting 10,000 people is a success of sorts, particularly since the public is fatigued and a bit jaded with politics, as well as the view that the opposition is fractured and unable to galvanise public support," said respected pollster Ibrahim Suffian.
"Moreover, the weather was not cooperative," he said of the thunderstorm that pelted down on the mostly youthful protestors halfway through the rally.
Centre of Public Initiative director Dr Lim Teck Ghee said the turnout is indicative that the Free Anwar campaign is alive and well, and commanded considerable support.
"Many had expected that the 'illegal' rally would attract only a small number of hard core pro-Anwar and pro-opposition supporters, given the police warnings," he said.
Police had declared the rally illegal and warned the public against joining the protest.
Lim also noted that in comparison to today's rally, the recent Malay unity gathering attended by the prime minister attracted a smaller number of attendees, despite the thousands that were bused in.
Today's rally, however, tellingly revealed the absence of ally PAS's top leaders, a worrying sign that the deep cracks within PR have now spilled into the open.
The most senior PAS leaders present at today's rally were party election director Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli and Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad.
PAS's contrary stance on the Selangor menteri besar impasse last year, hudud, local council elections and Oktoberfest has seen leaders from the Islamist parties trade barbs openly with partners PKR and DAP.
Unlike previous rallies, this time PAS's top leaders did not issue a call for its members to join today's gathering.
Ibrahim said the no-show by PAS' top leaders is indicative of a split both within the party and with their PR partners, although he cautioned that the leaders may be busy preparing for the Islamist party’s internal polls.
"It's telling who is pro-PR and who is not. The progressives are with Pakatan, while the conservatives stayed away," he said.
Now that the rally is over, what's the next step?
Lim said he is certain the #KitaLawan organisers and PR leaders are working to widen the impact of today's gathering, which was also held in 10 other cities worldwide.
He speculated that his might include a social media blitz.
"Besides focusing on Anwar, the rally also drew attention to issues of lack of democratic freedom and the partisan rule of law in the country. These messages resonate with a very large audience not only in Malaysia, but also abroad," he added. – March 7, 2015.
