Rural Malays the battleground for next GE
The informal coalition’s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the battleground between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat now was “more with the Malays” than other races, since Umno had been implanting “insecurities” in the minds of Malays that have resulted in them rejecting his coalition
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider
PETALING JAYA, May 26 — Pakatan Rakyat is now focusing on growing support from the rural Malays in an effort to cut Umno’s influence and win the next general election.
The informal coalition’s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the battleground between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat now was “more with the Malays” than other races, since Umno had been implanting “insecurities” in the minds of Malays that have resulted in them rejecting his coalition.
“I think the battleground is now more with Malays. I would say that because Umno is playing the race card, very strongly and implanting these suspicions in the Malays, these insecurities. We got to go back to the Malays, the rural heartland to try and convince them,” Anwar said in his first formal interview with The Malaysian Insider.
The former deputy prime minister had previously declined or postponed interviews with The Malaysian Insider but is now on a media offensive ahead of PKR’s congress this weekend.
Anwar claimed the main reason Umno had successfully convinced the Malays in rural areas to reject Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was because of the Malay party’s dominance over information dissemination in the mainstream print and television media.
He said this has created misconceptions and a “brick wall” between the Malays and PR.
“We don’t have the media, except maybe The Malaysian Insider (laughs) but the mainstream media does not help. We have to work hard and we have to go down to meet up with these people.
“Once we get to address them, they (rural Malays) will understand the actual situation. But the problem is because we have not been given a space to reach out to them; ‘kita disekat, (we’re blocked)” he said.
The evidence of Malay majority support for BN was obvious during last month’s Hulu Selangor by-election where BN candidate P. Kamalanathan won against PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim by a slim majority. BN’s win had been attributed to Malay support in Felda areas whereas the Chines had been solidly behind PR.
Anwar stressed that Hulu Selangor was an example of how PR needed to gain Malay backing to secure a clean victory.
“Look at Hulu Selangor, I mean generally we managed to defend a little bit better in Kuala Terengganu, we defended better in other areas. It’s just that we have problems where some areas are controlled (by Umno), like Felda Sungai Tengi, where votes went over to them.
“Look at Felda Sungai Buaya, where RM50,000 was given two days before by-election,” said Anwar.
But the one-time Umno member who rose to be deputy party president also claimed that PR had already begun going to the ground to work on winning Malay support.
According to Anwar, Malay-Melanau support for PR during the Sibu by-election was proof the federal opposition had begun to draw the community’s votes.
He claimed that Malay-Melanau support for PR/DAP had increased by at least 30 per cent from the previous election.
