DAP link to blame for Amanah’s problems with rural Malays, says Khalid

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad has attributed the party’s lack of success with the Malays in rural areas to the opposition’s narrative that it is a strong supporter of its “big brother”, DAP.

(FMT) – Speaking to FMT, he said it was not easy to dispel such views of the PAS splinter party in rural areas, contrasting them with the party’s reception by urban Malays.

He gave the example of his former Malay-majority parliamentary seat of Shah Alam, which he held on an Amanah ticket from 2008 until his party colleague, Azli Yusof, replaced him in the 15th general election.

“Outside the city, we face various stumbling blocks such as propaganda about us being a strong supporter of DAP.

“Other Malay parties, especially Umno and PAS, have been around for a long time, and it is hard to pierce their spheres of influence. They have hundreds of branches compared with Amanah, which has only been around for eight years,” he said.

However, he said Amanah had been diligently going to the ground, including in opposition-held areas, to explain itself and to counter accusations against it.

He was responding to Zaireeni Azmi, an analyst from Universiti Sains Malaysia who said Amanah had failed to play a more proactive role in Malay politics.

Zaireeni said Amanah, a component of Pakatan Harapan (PH), had not stood out in the coalition’s campaign for the recent by-election in Sungai Bakap, demonstrating a failure to influence Malay voters.

Amanah Youth chief Hasbie Muda said it was unfair to say that the party had failed, as its ally PKR faced similar issues in Malay-majority areas.

“Performance must be seen from an overall perspective, as Amanah has won seats such as Batu Tiga in Selangor.

“Candidates from other parties in PH have lost the contest for Malay-majority seats. Evaluations must be made fairly. We have won eight Malay-majority parliamentary seats,” he said.

Hasbie also said that despite its challenges, Amanah continued to increase its number of branches nationwide.

“We have also been actively working with local leaders, including imams and bilals, to bring Amanah closer to the community,” he said, expressing confidence that the party could win at least 16 seats at the next general election.