Despite talk of courting non-Malays, KKB campaigning shows Perikatan yet to follow through

06/05/2024

Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) closed its convention in March by resolving to court non-Malay voters, after admitting its reliance on Malay support has caused its progress to plateau.

The by-election for the mixed Kuala Kubu Baru seat would have let the Opposition coalition try this on for size, but PN appears not to have put into practice one of the key resolutions from the convention.

On Malay Mail’s drive from Batang Kali to Ampang Pechah over the weekend ahead of early voting today, multilingual banners for the Pakatan Harapan campaign could be seen.

In contrast, PN banners appeared to be printed exclusively in the Malay language, while multilingual banners were yet to be seen.

Party flags in Kuala Kubu Baru, May 5, 2024. PN’s all-Malay banner can be seen in the background. An analyst said the lack of multilingual campaign material indicated that PN has not yet begun to look past Malay support. — Picture by Raymond Manuel

PN also started the campaign for the May 11 by-election with Islamist component PAS appearing to denigrate Chinese vernacular education as a way to target PH’s candidate, Pang Sock Tao of DAP.

When contacted, University of Malaya associate professor Awang Azman Awang Pawi said the lack of multilingual campaign material indicated that PN has not yet begun to look past Malay support.

“I view that PN, by using less multilingual banners for the KKB by-election shows that the support or focus of PN is more towards Malay voters,” he told Malay Mail when contacted.

“They view that non-Malay voters side less with them.”

Perikatan Nasional candidate Khairul Azhari Saut and other party leaders take a group picture during the launch of PN’s manifesto for the Kuala Kubu Baru by-election in Kuala Kubu Baru on May 6, 2024. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

Previously, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Kamal said in an interview with Malay Mail that the onus was on his party and PN to engage with and convince non-Malay voters. He said that the coalition’s support among Malays has stagnated and would need PN to win over other segments of the country to keep making progress.

When contacted over the lack of multilingual campaign banners, Selangor PN chief and KKB election director Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali disagreed that the coalition only used Bahasa Malaysia in all its material.

“Our leaflets and other printed materials including the candidate biodata are in multiple languages,” he clarified.

However, Azmin acknowledged that low non-Malay support for his coalition from previous elections could continue in Kuala Kubu Baru.

DAP’s Seri Kembangan assemblyman Wong Siew Ki says PH’s choice to adopt a multilingual approach for the by-election was simply a reflection of the country’s reality. — File picture by Shafwan Zaidon

According to DAP’s Seri Kembangan assemblyman Wong Siew Ki, PH’s choice to adopt a multilingual approach for the by-election was simply a reflection of the country’s reality.

“We are a multiracial society, and we hope [it] can deliver the messages in a more efficient way to all,” she said.

The Kuala Kubu Baru seat fell vacant following the death of its three-term assemblyman, Lee Kee Hiong, on March 21 due to cancer.

The by-election is being contested by Pang, PN’s Khairul Azhari Saut, Hafizah Zainudin from Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), and independent candidate Nyau Ke Xin.

OTHER NEWS