Delegate: PAS needs to go back to basics, regain support of rural Malays
Azril Annuar, fz.com
PAS needs to get back to basics and the root of its support which built the party prior to its membership in Pakatan Rakyat – the rural Malay votes, a delegate said at the party’s annual muktamar here today.
Perak delegate Dr Mohd Nuri Al Amin pointed out to the party leadership that the May 5 general election saw PAS losing 5% of the Malay votes in the state despite the tremendous gain of non-Muslim votes.
“We saw the voting trend in Perak during the elections. PAS made a 20% gain in non-Muslim votes which is a reflection of the strength of PAS’ partnership with its Pakatan Rakyat partners DAP and PKR. We have gained the trust of the non-Muslims.
“But we have to accept the fact that in Perak, we lost 5% of the Malay votes. This is a fact. What does it mean? It means, that no matter how strong we have become because of our partnership with Pakatan Rakyat, we must never forget our voting base.
“We must accept the fact that we have not been able to dispel Umno’s hold over the Malay votes. We must go back to our base and our roots,” said Mohd Nuri.
He pointed out that lately, PAS has not really been discussing Islamic issues, which are close to the hearts and mind of the rural Malay heartland.
“We are so busy with other party’s issues that we forgot to fight for our own issues. We need a better strategy to win our voting base. We should not just champion issues brought up by our partners but we must also champion our own issues, based on what our voters, the rural Malay needs based on the norms of their everyday life.
“The issues brought up by PKR are based on their strategy to win over the urban voters. Our voters have different needs, different issues facing them. Corruption issues are what the urban voters want to hear but it means nothing to our voter base, who are the rural Malays.
“Perak would like to suggest to the PAS Central Committee to segment the PAS election engine, with one to address national issues brought up by our partners and another to address the need of our voting base,” said Mohd Nuri.
