Baby Of All Rallies A Walk In The Sunshine And A Shower In The Noon

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IN the end, the “Turun Anwar” campaign fizzled out in a whimper. It was all fireworks and nothing substantial was achieved.
The people came, saw, made some noise and dispersed—and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is still firmly ensconced in Putrajaya.
If you believe PAS, the turnout was massive and impressive—more than 300,000 took to the streets to vent their anger on Anwar, making into the record book as the “mother of all rallies”.
If you trust the police (which is more credible), only about 18,000 people showed up, making it the “baby of all rallies”.
For PAS, the numbers game is crucial to its strategy of using numerical strength to bolster its campaign to oust the prime minister.T
If 300,000 poured onto the streets of Kuala Lumpur, it means the message to Anwar is loud, clear, and unequivocal: you must resign because the people have spoken.
And if one million (PAS original target) rally-goers had indeed descended on the capital, then the Islamist party would not rest until Putrajaya sees a new prime minister.
The campaign will probably intensify with more rallies in the pipeline in the mistaken belief that the opposition had gained the upper hand from this show of strength, and must press forward its advantage.
But did this PAS-inspired rally shake the foundation of the government? Will Anwar fall tomorrow?
As the drama unfolded, there were the usual speakers who are considered the “stars” of the show and whose presence was supposed to rouse the crowd to fever pitch of excitement.
There was the Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin disparaging the RM100 financial handout because more aid should go to the poorer people.
Never mind the wealthy class, like him, who don’t need it at all. Perhaps, Muhyiddin is too embarrassed to take the peanut.
And there is the evergreen Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who took his case to the people’s court over the Pulau Batu Puteh issue.
Expert at toppling prime ministers, the centenarian has nothing but contempt for Anwar for allegedly committing many wrongs.
The sight of this indefatigable warrior walking hand in hand with the crowd unaided must surely stir the admiration and sympathy of the nation but the “Father of Disorder” is just not making any waves at all given his racial rhetoric.
Then there is the composition of the crowd: who are these rally-goers drawn towards this political siren song to Dataran Merdeka? Do they represent the majority of Malaysians?

One cannot help but feel that the protesters were mostly PAS members who thronged the city because the rally had assumed the character of a religious crusade.
There might be a smattering of “others” in the milling crowd but they were inconsequential. Their presence could be dismissed as just mere tokenism.
Street battles in some countries have resulted in the overthrow of governments but in Malaysia a change of government has always been fought through the battles of the ballot box.
If Anwar must go, he must exit through a constitutional process. He must bow down only to the wishes of the voters of Malaysia—and not to the demands of street protesters.
If anything, “Turun Anwar” is just a walk in the sunshine and a shower in the noon. 
Phlip Rodrigues is a retired journalist.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia

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