About 18,000 people took part in Saturday’s Turun Anwar rally in Kuala Lumpur, according to police, although the organisers, PAS Youth, claimed a total of more than 200,000 participants.

PETALING JAYA: An analyst says the low turnout at Saturday’s Turun Anwar rally can ironically be considered a “success” for the unity government, which can take credit for allowing the event to proceed as proof of democracy in Malaysia.

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid.

“The government shouldn’t be unduly worried with the 18,000 to 20,000 turnout, which falls far short of the original expectations of a 300,000 to 500,000 turnout,” Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid told FMT.

About 18,000 people took part in the rally, according to police estimates, although the organisers, PAS Youth, claimed that more than over 200,000 participants were present.

In comparison, the anti-ICERD rally in December 2018, organised by a coalition of Umno, PAS and Malay-Muslim NGOs, saw more than 30,000 participants gather at Dataran Merdeka.

James Chin of the University of Tasmania was more unequivocal in calling the rally a failure for the organisers, “even if one generously estimates the average attendance from public reports as being somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000”.

James Chin.

“I think a major reason why it was a failure was because the major NGOs did not turn up in numbers. It was basically a PN rally,” he said.

The day before the rally, six NGOS said opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin should not have used their names to justify the protest.

Bersih, C4 Center, Ideas, Projek Sama, Pusat Komas, and Transparency International Malaysia said their meeting with Hamzah on July 1 had nothing to do with any political rally, and that they only sought to present their proposals on institutional reform and not to endorse any political campaign.

Hamzah had claimed at a press conference earlier that the NGOs had approached him expressing unhappiness with the government.

Fauzi also took aim at the opposition’s lack of alternatives for Anwar despite calling for his ouster.

“If Anwar were to step down, who’s in line to succeed him? Even Bersatu has differences about whether it should be Muhyiddin Yassin or Hamzah Zainudin, while PAS is touting Abdul Hadi Awang or Samsuri Mokhtar.

“As long as PN cannot keep its own house in order, convincing the rakyat will take a lot of effort, PH’s weakness notwithstanding,” he said.

Don’t underestimate non-Malay unhappiness, unity govt warned

Fauzi also said the unity government should not underestimate what the rally represents for the upcoming general election.

Noting the presence of non-Malays at the rally, he said this could signal possible Perikatan Nasional victories if non-Malays abstain from voting in marginal seats.

“It would have been nicer (for the opposition) if we saw more balanced racial representation at the rally, with a higher turnout from the ethnic minorities.

“But some were there, and pro-unity government sources shouldn’t hide this fact. Once in a while, there were shouts in Tamil and Mandarin.

“Despite their relatively low numbers, PH and BN shouldn’t underestimate the damage the disappointed non-Malay vote can do to them in the general election,” he said.

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