Trio of ex-Umno ministers take Pakatan stage in Malacca

AYER KEROH: Three former Umno old guards shared the same stage for the first time in over a decade last night, but this time to campaign for the opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Unsurprisingly, it was this trio of veteran politicians who received the loudest cheers from the crowd when they took the stage, in the presence of other top opposition leaders.
Led by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is now the coalition chairman and prime minister-designate, his former strongmen Tun Daim Zainuddin and Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz addressed the thousands who were present to hear them in Malacca.
While the latter two are not officially members of the opposition like Mahathir, they have openly expressed their dissatisfaction and have criticised the current Barisan Nasional (BN) government on several occasions.
"Iron Lady" Rafidah has long been a critic of the BN government under Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, but Daim only recently began appearing on the campaign trail for the opposition.
However, this was Rafidah's first time appearing live on an opposition stage.
Rafidah was previously the International Trade and Industries Minister and Daim the Finance Minister during Mahathir's premiership.
Among others present for the programme were PH president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, deputy presidents Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu, and Mahathir's wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali.
Speaking at the ceramah, Mahathir told the large crowd present that the GE14 would be the final chance for the rakyat to oust BN from Putrajaya.
He said while many Malaysians in the past general elections did not hold the confidence that the opposition would be able to topple the government, the atmosphere in GE14 was different.
"I am confident, with the strong support that we have tonight, we will achieve victory," he said.
"There is not much that needs to be done. We only need to vote PH and give zero votes to BN and its close friend that uses the moon logo," he said, referring to the coalition's former ally, PAS.
Meanwhile, Rafidah said she was touched by the welcome given to her after an almost 10-year hiatus from politics.
"This country does not belong to BN or the opposition. We now only have a caretaker and I feel the need to speak tonight because it's the rakyat who will be giving the new contract to the government that will be chosen every five years," she said.