PUTRAJAYA (May 3): “I thought people from Putrajaya are cowards.”

That was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s opening sentence at Pakatan Harapan’s ceramah tonight, which was held right across the main street of Putrajaya’s government offices.

The Opposition coalition could not have picked a better place for sabre-rattling against Barisan Nasional with polling for the 14th general election less than a week away.

Mahathir’s cheeky question was directed at the main target audience of the night: public servants who make up the majority of the 27,306 voters in the federal administrative capital.

He raised cheers from thousands of  supporters — including those from nearby areas such as Bangi, Serdang, Kajang and Puchong — gathered at the biggest Opposition ceramah in the federal territory. Also attending were a commendable number of voters from States like Kelantan and Terengganu who work in the Klang Valley.

It was a stark contrast when a clip of caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appeared briefly on the stage screen, which received a backlash from the crowd.

Mahathir’s speech was also peppered with spicy remarks against the BN, and particularly Najib.

“They mock me, and I mock them. This is politics,” the 92-year-old Prime Minister candidate said, to laughter from the crowd.

Pakatan’s candidate for the Putrajaya parliamentary seat, Datuk Dr Samsu Adabi Mamat, asked about the presence of Putrajaya residents in the crowd, and around 10% of them raised their hands.

Also making an appearance was Parti Amanah Negara strategic director Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and DAP’s candidate for the Segambut Parliamentary seat, Hannah Yeoh.

“This is the message that we want to share with our friends in Putrajaya, do not fear. Our votes stay secret, public servants can vote for Pakatan Harapan,” said Samsu Adabi.

He is standing against PAS candidate Prof Dr Zaianal Abidin Kidam and incumbent Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who is also the caretaker Federal Territories Minister.

Throughout the night, there were shouts of “Hidup Tun”, “Reformasi” and “Takbir”, reflective of the diverse crowd.

The strategy to use the PKR logo for all Pakatan candidates seems to gel together the otherwise fragmented support towards  Mahathir, PKR de-facto president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Omar Nik Aziz, son of the late PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

The night witnessed Nik Omar’s first-ever ceramah speech as a Parliamentary candidate for Amanah in Chempaka, Kelantan.

A sizeable number of the spectators were looking forward to see him, providing a much-needed boost for Amanah to capture votes from PAS.

“I am not teaching you to hate Islam,” he said. “But this is the best moment to change [the government],” he added, to the delight of the crowd.

On the ground, the pertinent questions were “can we change this time”, but the numbers who attended the night’s event provided some assurance.

One of the spectators told the edgemarkets.com that all of his family members are planning to vote for the Opposition this time. “Otherwise the change will not happen,” the 60-year-old PAS supporter said.