She said this in response to former Umno man Khairuddin Abu Hassan’s statement that former Premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad was expected to make an appearance at the rally at Dataran Merdeka tomorrow.
Speaking to FMT, Anis said they had not received any confirmation from the man himself besides what had been shared through the media.
“We welcome any like-minded Malaysians to come to the rally, including Tun Mahathir,” she said.
On whether a bigger turnout was likely due to the former premier’s presence, Anis said the group was not banking on it but it would “certainly” be a welcome sight.
“We are keeping our numbers realistic and are not expecting Tun Mahathir to gather a larger crowd, but if he does then they are more than welcome.”
Speculation was rife on whether or not Mahathir, who was recently admitted to the hospital for a chest infection, would show up to the TangkapMO1 rally as last year he had made a surprise appearance at the Bersih 4 gathering.
Malaysiakini reported Khairuddin as saying that he personally hoped all the people of Malaysia would attend en masse to give moral support to the rally tomorrow.
Recently, Anis said it was more realistic to set the number of participants for the rally at 5,000 instead of the previous 10,000.
Among those who have expressed their desire to join the rally are electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0, Pakatan Harapan’s Youth wing, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Lawyers for Liberty, Persatuan Hak Asasi Manusia Kebangsaan (Hakam), Sisters in Islam and Amanah Youth.