Stop blaming BN’s money politics, says DAP’s Kula
By Athi Shankar, Free Malaysia Today
GEORGE TOWN: As the dust settles on PKR’s defeat in the Hulu Selangor by-election on Sunday, a disappointed senior MP has called on Pakatan Rakyat to stop blaming Barisan Nasional’s money politics.
Accusing Pakatan of still being in denial, DAP vice-chairman M Kulasegaran said the party must return to the drawing board and do a no-holds-barred detailed review of the devastating loss.
“It’s more than vote-buying.
“There are other pressing issues that influenced the election result.
‘It’s a timely wake-up call,” said the two-term Ipoh Barat MP.
In the by-election, electoral debutant P Kamalanathan of BN obtained 24,997 votes to score a 1,725-margin victory against PKR heavyweight Zaid Ibrahim, who polled 23,272.
Kulasegaran pointedly noted that Pakatan Rakyat lost despite fielding its best candidate against an MIC novice.
Secondly, he said, Pakatan lost the seat in a state that the coalition rules.
He said he was surprised and disappointed with Zaid’s defeat because it’s so close to Kuala Lumpur.
“It’s frightening to learn we lost in a mixed constituency. Something is amiss here… to lose in our own den?
“All Pakatan leaders and elected representatives must reflect on where and what went wrong.
“We must take stock urgently,” Kulasegaran told FMT.
