Hours after PKR de facto Anwar Ibrahim was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to five years in prison, his supporters have converged in Kajang to urge the BN’s ouster.

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali declared the beginning of Reformasi 2.0 to more than 500 people at the party’s cramped election centre at Kampung Sungai Sekamat, Kajang.

“Are we just going to fight in the election or are we going to the streets?” asked Azmin as the crowd cheered in agreement.

“Even though we won with 52 percent of the votes, they are still in power.

“In conclusion, these robbers and corrupt people cannot be taken down in the elections, they can only be taken down on the streets,” he said.

Azmin said the Pakatan Rakyat presidential council will decide tomorrow whether to hit the streets.

“If we announce tomorrow 9pm at Dataran Merdeka will you be ready? If we announce tomorrow 3pm at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman will you be ready?” he asked as the crowd responded in agreement.

Anwar, who took the stage slightly after 11pm, echoed the urging for a second wave of reformasi as the crowd swelled to over 1,000.

‘Sustained reformasi’

“This is the beginning of a new wave of reformasi. This second wave will not end until we capture Putrajaya,” he said.

Anwar remains free for now after the court allowed a stay of execution and bail of RM10,000.

The opposition coalition has already announced that the Pakatan Rakyat convention in Shah Alam tomorrow will be turned into a rally instead following Anwar’s conviction.

“Even before anything has happened, the inspector-general of police has given a warning, but let me tell him to instead warn the robbers and corrupt.

“We guarantee the rally tomorrow will be peaceful, but we will catch robbers if there are any,” he quipped, adding that the cops should do their job as usual.

Anwar accused Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of using the courts to have him convicted in a bid to thwart the Kajang Move.

Anwar’s conviction has disqualified him from contesting but the opposition leader urged Kajang voters to make a statement by making BN lose its deposit in the Kajang by-election on March 23.

“Today, I was convicted and on March 11, (DAP chairperson) Karpal Singh will be sentenced for sedition...

“We must defend our leadership,” he said.

Among those present tonight include Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim ( left in photo ), DAP’s Seremban MP Anthony Loke and PAS’ Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad.

Also, notably present today was former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib.

‘12 candidates shortlisted’

Concurrently, more than 2,000 people converged at Kajang Stadium to show solidarity.

Some of the crowd had converged there after confusion arose over the exact location of Anwar’s rally tonight.

At a press conference later, Anwar confirmed the Pakatan leadership will decide whether to launch sustained protests like the Black 505 rallies.

“We will decide tomorrow,” he said.

As for his replacement candidate, Anwar said PKR has shortlisted 12 potential names.

“We will decide tomorrow on someone suitable who represents the spirit of Pakatan and if not, then the latest by Monday,” he said.