BUKIT MERTAJAM – Barisan Nasional (BN) is scaring away investors with its constant harping for an early general election, Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told a ceramah here last night.
BN’s obsession with early polls is unhealthy, he said, and shows it has forgotten about the political stability that investors want to allow them to operate with an assurance of returns.
“BN has been dwelling on it (having early polls) for the past months. Why can’t they just focus on governance for once? They should ensure that we emerge from the pandemic on a better footing.
“Instead, we are dumbstruck with no clear policies to resolve problems,” the PKR president said at a DAP fundraising dinner held at Dewan Ng Yam Huat here last night.
Anwar also pointed out that discord within the cabinet over the timing of the 15th general election is also the first time a sitting cabinet has rebelled against the prime minister.
He was referring to the 12 cabinet members from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition who sent a letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong seeking His Majesty’s support for GE15 to be postponed until next year.
Amanah president Mohamed Sabu, who was also present, told the audience that Umno, in particular, wants early polls during the monsoon season to ensure a lower voter turnout so it can win.
“We will save costs as we can swim to our voting centres,” he joked.
“While Umno will be using government machinery to ensure only its supporters will be ferried to voting centres,” the Kota Raja MP said.
Mohamad also rebuffed allegations that DAP was anti-Malay, saying the party had come to the rescue of Bumiputera organisations while it was in federal power, such as Tabung Haji.
“So where is the basis that DAP is anti-Malay or anti-Islam? Their performance in helping the Malays while in government speaks volumes.”
Party deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo reminded the crowd that PH had been betrayed after ruling for only 22 months, and should not be unfairly judged for its short-lived performance.
“We did not give up the fight. We were betrayed by those with selfish aims.”
PH needs a renewed mandate to complete what it had set out to achieve for the people before it was betrayed, Gobind added.
Penang Chief Minister and DAP vice-president Chow Kon Yeow said that the coming election would be different from the last one in 2018 because there are now more coalition and independent parties vying for votes.
“It is no longer a straight fight, nor a three-cornered one. Other parties like PN will also want support. We need to be alert to this,” he said. – The Vibes, October 9, 2022
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