MELAKA (May 4): Cheers filled the air as former Cabinet Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz made her debut on the Opposition stage, urging voters to bring down the Barisan Nasional government in the national polls in five days’ time.

The former Wanita Umno chief, sharing the stage with leaders of Pakatan Harapan for the first time, affirmed that she had "exited" her long-time party.

“I am no longer an Umno member. I have left Umno a long time ago," Rafidah told theedgemarkets.com.

It was exactly a month ago that Pakatan kickstarted its nationwide tour for the 14th general election in this state.

More than 5,000 people attended tonight’s event, with the crowd spilling over to the main roads surrounding the location where a few simple stages were set.

People from all six Parliamentary constituencies in Melaka were present with the majority from Hang Tuah Jaya and Kota Melaka.

They welcomed Rafidah, the latest veteran (ex-)Umno leader to join the Opposition camp after Tun Daim Zainuddin, who started appearing with Pakatan leaders a few days ago.

Besides Daim, the other “star attractions” tonight were Pakatan top guns, including its Prime Ministerial candidate Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, PKR president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah, DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng and Amanah president Mohammad Sabu.

"People ask why I want to comment [on the government] 10 years after I became a pensioner ... I have been watching what the government has been doing," said Rafidah.

She likened the government mandate to a "five-year management contract" which needs to be earned from the rakyat through elections.

"Now the [BN] government is asking us, the rakyat, to renew their five-year contract. If their management was good, we would have no problem.

"But our beautiful home Malaysia now has all sorts of infestations. That is why I exited [Umno]," she said.

Rafidah proceeded to up the ante in her criticism of the BN government despite a warning by Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor that party veterans such as Rafidah risked being sacked from Umno over their anti-party actions.

The actions included attending events organised by the Opposition, Adnan said a few days ago.

The highlight of the night was the speech by Mahathir in which he urged the people to change "the only government we Malaysian have known since independence".

"Its performance has deteriorated since the time of [Tun] Abdullah [Ahmad Badawi], and further during [Datuk Seri] Najib Razak's time," he said.

"I was not there when [first prime minister the late] Tunku Abdul Rahman came back from overseas to give us the good news that we will gain independence in 1957.

"But I am sure the attendance is comparable with what we are witnessing tonight. I am sure we are all confident of taking down Barisan Nasional," he added.