School holidays could have affected the turnout at the "Anti-kleptocracy rally" in Petaling Jaya, Selangor on Saturday, said Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub.

"The rally did not achieve the goal of gathering 100,00 people. Perhaps (this could be due to) the rally happening during the school holiday and Deepavali season.

"So many people would be on holiday," he said, according to Sinar Harian.

Nevertheless, Salahuddin (photo), who is also the Pakatan Harapan vice-chairperson, said the rally managed to attract a lot of young people from all races.

"Who said that the event was a failure? A lot of people turned up, compared to previous rallies... We even managed to attract people of different races and religions, unlike some other (organisers)," he said.

Organisers estimated that 25,000 people were at the rally, while Malaysiakini estimated that there were 8,000 people at Padang Timur at its height after dusk.

However, Selangor police chief Mazlan Mansor estimated that there were only 4,000 people at the rally.

Some experts observed that most rally participants were middle-aged or elderly, and that youths appeared to have shunned the event.