THE AMANAH national convention ended today with delegates shuffling out having a clearer grip on how religion has been unduly exploited for political advantage in the Malaysian electoral landscape.
Specifically, the sentiment that Islam and the position of the Malays are threatened has been played up by the party’s adversaries in past elections.
It has contributed significantly to Amanah failing to garner the desired support, even among young voters.
Its president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu made a call for the current Madani Government to highlight and assert the immense power of moderation to the electorate.
He said that Pakatan Harapan (PH) should have garnered better support from Malay-Muslim voters after its government had passed and implemented beneficial legislations when the coalition was in power from 2018 to early 2020.
Among these was the Undi18 law which lowered the minimum voting age from 21 years to 18, and enabled automatic registration of voters.
However, the support for PH failed to adequately materialise due to the religious and racial sentiments which even influenced young Muslims, causing many among them to vote for Perikatan Nasional (PN) instead.
"Unid18 was indeed approved and put in place by our (PH) government, but we could not disseminate information on its significance at schools, universities and so on when the (next) election took place and we were no longer ruling at that time,” he said in his address at the convention in Klang.
The PH government was brought down in February 2020 due to defections, way before the next general election took place in November 2022.
Mohamad said that PN had harped on the notion that Islam was being threatened and that the position of the Malays would not be guaranteed in Malaysia in the future.
"The issue of Islam being threatened really caught the hearts and minds of the people such that we saw personages from Amanah and Umno lose,” he said, referring to the general election last year.
He pointed as an example the stunning defeat of Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of PH chairman and current prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in her family’s stronghold of Permatang Pauh to a far lesser-known candidate from PAS.
“The famous 'princess of reformation' (as Nurul Izzah is known) lost in Permatang Pauh, the fortress where Reformasi was born,” he said.
"This was a result of the game of Islam and Malays being threatened.”
He said the onus is now on the Madani Government led by Anwar to demonstrate how exactly Islam and the position of Malays could be threatened.
Mohamad, who is also the federal minister of agriculture and food security, expressed optimism that the Madani Government will continue ruling with even stronger support after the 16th general election (GE16), due in four years.
He stressed on the importance of unity and moderation among parties in the present administration.
“With that we can continue to be the government for a long time to come,” he said.
“I am sure that if we are united, it will go well for us in GE16. The Unity Government will return to rule in bigger style.”
Dzulkefly bags most votes
On the issue of local government elections, Mohamad said that discussions and in-depth studies must be done beforehand to ensure all races are satisfied and feel secure with the implementation of the elections.
“If one is chosen by the people, then he must work diligently for the people’s interests, not the party’s,” Mohamad said.
“It is necessary to win the people’s hearts and ensure no one is left behind,” he added.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, who is Amanah’s director of strategy, obtained the highest number of votes in the election for the party’s leadership committee for the 2023-2026 term held during the convention.
Dzulkefly, who is also the Kuala Selangor MP, got 900 votes.
Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad bagged the second largest share of votes. He garnered 899 votes.
Shah Alam MP Azli Yusof obtained 755 votes while Mohamad Sabu ranked eighth with 613 votes.
A total of 1,008 delegates participated in an e-voting session to elect the party’s speaker, deputy speaker and 27 Amanah leadership committee members.
In total, a total of 98 candidates competed to fill the contested positions.
The 27 new committee members will next choose among themselves who should occupy the five highest positions of the party. – The Vibes, December 24, 2023
