Busloads of Barisan supporters in yellow T-shirts were brought in from out of town.
Yes, any coalition that is formidable enough to fight Barisan Nasional has to be broad-based.
Mr Najib's Barisan Nasional (BN or National Front) coalition won 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats on Sunday.
Time and again, Barisan TV ads have reminded Malaysians of what the governing coalition has done for them.
As the Barisan juggernaut rolls on, the fight against the status quo is clearly nothing if not tough.
Barisan was due to hold a Supreme Council meeting on June 24, fueling rumors that elections were imminent.
Barisan is expected to convene its supreme council on June 24, a sign that elections could be round the corner.
The middle ground of Malaysian politics can still win, but it won't be the old Barisan Nasional of conservative race-based parties.
In Alor Star, the state headquarters of Barisan is abuzz over the impending visit of the coalition's leader, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
This is the symbol of Barisan Nasional, the coalition that rules Malaysia.
It was expected to win a simple majority but 24 hours before the election, the tide was turned in favor of Mahathir's Barisan Nasional.
But its message was clear, and consistent with Barisan's campaign theme.
To the credit of the Malaysian system, for all the layers of favoritism enjoyed by the Barisan Nasional incumbents, the distilled gripe was allowed to be expressed.
The polls are not due until April next year, but many predict that they will be called much earlier, given Barisan's success in the recent Sabah state election.
The three-day meeting, held June 18-20, was the first general assembly by UMNO, the dominant party in Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, since Anwar's acrimonious ouster last September.
Improving economic indicators and Barisan's morale-boosting victory in Sabah's state election in March also point to polls sooner rather than later, possibly before Parliament convenes its budget session in October.
General elections are not due until next year but are expected much sooner, and Mahathir is sure to pick the moment most advantageous for himself and the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
The other argument Barisan is using to sway the voters is fear of what might happen if Pakatan wins, playing on its inexperience, and on the disparate ideologies of its three parties.
Kedah is also, as one Barisan activist puts it, "one of the places where Pas can pose a threat, " along with the nearby Malay belt states of Kelantan (which is already ruled by Pas), Trengganu and Perlis.
After the general elections, in which the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition kept its two-thirds parliamentary majority but UMNO saw its ethnic-Malay powerbase seriously eroded by the Islamist Pas, UMNO morale plummeted and doubts grew about the party leadership.
When the elections do come, UMNO members are confident that the ruling coalition will retain its two-thirds majority, although they do not expect a repeat of the 1995 landslide victory, in which Barisan won five-sixths of the parliamentary seats.
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