Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders turned out in full force at the 726 Turun Anwar rally (Step down Anwar), held at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

The heavyweights – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang were present at the rally.

However, the public focused on one key question: how many people actually attended the rally?

PN, the organizers, claimed that 500,000 people showed up while the mouthpiece of PAS, Harakah reported 300,000 crowd.

According to media estimates, the crowd was close to 30,000 and some only estimated 15,000.

The special branch of the police estimated the turnout to be between 10,000 and 15,000.

This fell short of the target touted by Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, who had claimed that growing public discontent could attract as many as one million participants.

PAS alone has over one million members, and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia about 700,000—yet only tens of thousands showed up, which can be seen as a failure.

Moreover, the determination of some participants was weak. They left gradually due to the  heavy downpour.

The majority of participants were Malay, with very few Chinese or Indian participants.

This failed to reflect the multiracial nature of the country—a fatal flaw for PN.

A rally organized by those without political credibility would fail to strike a chord with the public.