Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah believes the Bersih 5 rally will attract members and supporters of BN parties who have never attended any Bersih rally before.

Maria attributed this to the efforts of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) led by them.

"Mahathir and Muhyiddin really know the language of the Umno grassroots (in persuading them to join Bersih rally)," she told Malaysiakini today, just about an hour before her arrest.

However, Maria said, this group of people were drawn to Bersih not because of the charm of Mahathir, but because what he has done of  has opened their minds.

"It wasn't because of Mahathir's personality. This is about the concept of why the leaders came out of Umno and dared to do something different," she said, adding that this is what inspired the Umno grassroots members.

Beside Malays, Chinese and Indians turned up at Bersih convoys, she said, which were conducted to promote the mass rally throughout the country.

With former Umno leaders promoting Bersih among Umno members, as well as the efforts of NGOs and Pakatan Harapan parties in pushing hard for attendance at the rally, Maria believes Bersih 5 rally will have a balanced racial representation.

Thus, she said, her detractors would not be able to frame Bersih 5 as a non-Malay rally, just as they did with the previous rallies.

"They cannot put a racial label on us, because we have already won on that point.

"During the Bersih convoys, you will know who actually turned up if you look at the pictures. They are harassing their own race," she said.

Bersih convoy volunteers kept rising

Also, she added, the numbers of volunteers who joined the Bersih convoys to help disseminate leaflets increased with every harassment of the rally campaigners.

"It was simply amazing. They know full well that their cars will be attacked, yet they came with their own vehicles. We had 30 cars joining us in the first week, and this increased to 100 cars in the last three weeks.

"They came with their own cars, knowing fully well that their cars would be attacked. This is amazing.

"We have gone to 236 towns and cities in the past seven weeks," she said, admitting that she was fatigued as this interview took place.

There were also areas that the Bersih convoys went to that they could not enter. These were some of the Felda settlements and Umno stronghold heartlands, she added.

Maria said her three sons, who are studying at private universities, would join the Bersih 5 rally tomorrow.

"I am worried about them, definitely. I also jokingly asked them not to come, but they are not going to listen to me," she said, and laughed.

"I told them not to, for their safety, as they too have received death threats," she said.

Maria received the death threat via her mobile phone, and the message stated that it was a warning from the Malaysian Islamic State operatives.

The sender also sent her images of the MyKad of her three sons.

"I told my sons of the consequences, but I will let them make up their own mind.

"We do discuss issues in the family, and I do not keep my views away from the family. They understand why I am doing this and they also understand why they need to participate," she added.