On May 5th, you came out by the millions and called out in a single voice that you wanted change. Change from a corrupt regime of UMNO-BN that has held on to power for more than five decades. It was a voice that was strong and clear. To the UMNO-BN leaders, you told them: Enough! Enough of corruption and abuse of power! Enough of bad governance and mismanagement of the nation’s wealth! Let Pakatan Rakyat take over now.
But they refused to leave because they want to hold on to power at all costs. So, they cheated and used all kinds of deceit to silence your voice. Working hand in glove with the Elections Commission, they resorted to all kinds of fraudulent ways and declared themselves the winner.
By this act of blatant fraud and cheating, they turned the brightest hour in our history into its darkest.
But last night, hundreds of thousands of you – Malaysians from all races and walks of life, young and old – turned up to show your outrage against the injustice and fraud committed. You showed your courage and determination. You braved the traffic jams, walked kilometres on end and stood your ground against the pouring rain because you believe your cause is a noble one. You were peaceful, you showed your allegiance to the Yang diPertuan Agong and sang the national anthem with pride, and you demonstrated clearly that you are indeed a nation united as Bangsa Malaysia.
They say that you gathered because you cannot accept defeat while they have won legitimately. This is a gross insult. It is also a blatant lie. The truth is your victory has been stolen from you. How can that be acceptable? It is they who cannot accept defeat and have resorted to this deceit, fraud and cheating to stay on to power. You are on the side of truth and truth will triumph over falsehood.
Our mission is clear. We will continue to protest against this fraud and this disgraceful act of denying the people their victory. You have every right to be outraged that your overwhelming vote for change has been hijacked. You have every right to feel hurt and insulted by the accusations of being ungrateful and greedy just because you voted for Pakatan.
They are now playing with the fire of racism and hate-mongering and trying every means possible to intimidate you. But I am confident you are not afraid. You will show the illegitimate UMNO-BN government that your voice is not so easy to silence. You will show them your steely resolve and the courage of your convictions. You will show that you won’t stop until justice and victory is returned to you.
In all these endeavours, I give you my word that the Pakatan Rakyat is totally with you. We will stand firmly by you all the way. We will never surrender.
ANWAR IBRAHIM
