KUALA LUMPUR – PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is aware that many rural Malays distrust the party’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) partner DAP, negatively affecting his own support base.
Even though this is a problem, the Port Dickson MP stressed that PKR is not a fair-weather friend and will continue standing by DAP’s side while doing its best to persuade voters to mark their ballots for the opposition coalition.
The support of the Malay-Muslim majority will decide PH’s fate in the upcoming national polls (GE15), with the community viewed as the “kingmakers” of the government.
However, the opposition bloc has been bogged down by poor sentiments among the Malay populace towards the predominantly Chinese DAP, essentially diminishing Anwar’s chances of becoming prime minister.
Despite this long-standing issue, Anwar said he remains committed to his friendship with DAP.
“Even support for me among the Malays have eroded slightly (due to DAP). There were some who said (I would be better off) by breaking ties but we have to explain (to them),” Anwar said.
“But a big majority (of voters) support DAP, not only from the Malay and Chinese (community). And if we want the country to be saved, united and moving forward, we have to accept the reality that we must uphold the groups that provide majority support.”
The opposition leader said this during a special interview with The Vibes, Malaysiakini, and Sinar Harian at his office in Bukit Gasing, here, this afternoon.
DAP has tried to address the issue
He was asked about how Pakatan Harapan plans to address the challenge of convincing rural Malays to accept DAP.
In fact, he has observed that DAP itself has worked hard to address the distrust that rural Malays have for them and convince that they are not the boogeymen that their political rivals have made them out to be.
“I’ve voiced my opinion to DAP, and DAP have also tried their best to convince the rural Malays (for support), who have a deep-rooted distrust of DAP,” the opposition chief said.
Anwar was convinced that DAP remains a PH partner as policies regarding graft and integrity were “clear”.
Nevertheless, the opposition luminary did not deny the existence of some bad apples within the DAP fold.
“This does not mean that all DAP leaders had high integrity, maybe there are some weaknesses. It’s the same for PKR as there are those who betray by hopping parties.”
Deep-seated distrust
Anwar believes the negative perception among rural Malays towards DAP was deeply entrenched due to decades of indoctrination.
Part of this, he indicated, is due to the New Economic Policy (NEP), the affirmative action plan that many Malays believe was the sole policy defending them.
“It has been rooted in the schools and university, including among professors.
“But we ask them to elaborate on the policy (itself) and the implementation,” he said, adding that although the NEP took off in 1971, a student-led protest by Anwar himself took place a few years later in Kedah.
Known as the 1974 Baling Incident or the Baling Demonstration, the movement saw thousands of students and rubber tappers taking to the streets and occupying Baling town protesting against poverty.
The public uprising was triggered when the global rubber price collapsed, leaving the tappers in destitution where the media had reported several children dying after eating a poisonous wild yam to stave off their hunger.
Anwar said the Malays critical of DAP can look at the party’s successes in uplifting the community from poverty in Penang, where it is the state government, and compare that to the administration under Barisan Nasional.
He also said that Malay youth and villagers consistently asked about DAP when he holds talks with them, but there was “no way out” other than to give them explanations.
“This is what we must work on and I admit there are approaches where we can invite them (Malays) to discuss this openly,” Anwar said.
“In areas such as Cheras or Bukit Bintang, are we going to brush aside these areas because they support DAP? We can’t do that.”
Anwar also stressed that DAP had 42 parliamentarians and its policies did not reject the position of Bahasa Malaysia, the status of the rulers and Islam, as well as the special privileges of the Malays and Bumiputera.
“There are also statements (from DAP members) that are ‘bebal’ (foolish) and ‘cuai’ (reckless), yes. But do they represent the party as a whole? No.”
“Are there some half-baked statements from PKR? Yes. But does that form the party’s stance? No.”
Anwar also said that leaders from both DAP and PKR should take a “soft” approach to represent their parties, adding that this was why regular engagement between the two parties were important in order to reach a consensus. – The Vibes, April 18, 2022
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