Anwar hits bumpy road in blitz down south

As Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim went on a campaign blitz across Johor yesterday in an effort to make inroads into Umno's traditional stronghold, the journey proved to be a rocky one.

Though not facing the same degree of violence which happened at a Lembah Pantai ceramah on Thursday or the one in Sembrong three months ago where Anwar's car was stoned, the Pakatan Rakyat team faced continuous harassment as they made their way across the state.

Their woes began when Anwar arrived at Masjid Pulai Perdana in Johor's southwestern town of Gelang Patah at around 7:15pm for maghrib prayers.

"After the prayers, Anwar was supposed to deliver a tazkirah but a group led by (Nusajaya state assemblyperson) Abdul Aziz Sapian prevented him from doing so and created a ruckus," said PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub (left) who was with the opposition leader.

This, he said, was because the group claimed political speeches were not allowed in the mosque.

"The sound system was hidden away and the mosque chairperson was not allowed to continue his speech - they surrounded and blocked us," he said.

Thus, Salahuddin said the entourage decided to abandon its intention to deliver a speech and instead shook hands with the congregation there before departing.

Counter-ceramah in Pengerang

On arrival at Pengerang after a two-hour drive east of Gelang Patah, Pakatan leaders were not only greeted by their supporters, but also a counter-ceramah nearby.

"There was also protest as usual, the situation was quite tense but luckily there was no incident," said PKR vice-president Tian Chua.

The turnout was modest, with the opposition claiming 1,000 participants while Pengerang MP Azalina Othman (left) who spoke at the counter-ceramah mocked the opposition, claiming that it only garnered 200 supporters.

Commenting on rumours that the Navy base in Pengerang had recalled its personnel and prevented them from leaving the facility due to a "surprise operation", Tian Chua said this was an attempt to prevent army men from listening to Pakatan's message.

"I suspect they fear that the Navy personnel would be influenced by us... we do not have access to the media and this would have been a good opportunity for us to talk to the military officers directly," he said.

Echoing this, Salahuddin said the intimidation tactics were not only limited to Pakatan ceramah.

"Recently this gangster culture and intimidation is becoming worse. The intimidation includes pressuring the police and army officers, and warning them against attending opposition events," he said.

Highway scare

As Pakatan leaders moved on to the second and last ceramah of the night in Pasir Gudang - about 90 minutes west of Pengerang - three vehicles suddenly appeared on the highway and attempted to bump Anwar's car off the road, claimed Tian Chua.

"A few cars tried to cut off Anwar's vehicle and created a dangerous situation, our vehicles had to move forward to help him," he said.

Asked if this was a mere coincidence, Tian Chua (right) replied: "It was deliberate, the cars deliberately tried to block him (Anwar) off, this was a clear attempt to intimidate us."

Despite the scare, the entourage did not need to alight from their vehicles and continued on with the journey, he added.

Even before the group arrived at Pasir Gudang, Tian Chua claimed that close to 100 Umno supporters converged near the ceramah site to demonstrate against Anwar.

"But because their numbers were small and our crowd at Pasir Gudang was large, the protesters left when the crowd grew. We had at least 5,000 people there," he said.

The ceramah blitz last night appeared to be aimed at bolstering not only local Pakatan leaders but also top politicians such as Salahuddin, who is expected to contest in Johor and will face an uphill battle in what many regard as Umno's bastion.