KUALA LUMPUR – Incumbent Kuala Selangor MP Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad has urged the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to formulate strategies which will garner the support of “cynical” fence-sitting voters for the coming 15th general election (GE15).
The Amanah lawmaker asserted that while the imminent national polls could see voters rejecting parties such as Barisan Nasional (BN) linchpin Umno, this does not necessarily translate to backing for PH.
“This generation of voters is full of cynicism… they are ready to reject Umno and other such parties, but they might not be willing to vote for PH.
“They (voters) will not be voting for you but against your opponent,” he said during a PH Youth event at the Sultan Sulaiman Club, here last night.
Dzulkefly, who was health minister during the PH administration, stressed that PH must properly formulate its outreach to voters to ensure that citizens “are prepared to cast their ballot for PH when they reject Umno.”
He also said that since voters in GE15 might be heading to the polls with the intention to vote based on their aversion to certain parties, it would be wise for PH to avoid making it onto voters’ blacklist.
“We must identify how we can avoid making voters hate PH more… as long as they (voters) hate Umno and the rest, we (PH) will be safe.
“The more mistakes our opponent makes, the more (PH stands to benefit) but if we also shoot ourselves in the foot and blunder, then they (PH opponents) will win,” he warned.
He added that while PH is far from being a faultless coalition, it has always remained steadfast in its desire to change the nation to be more inclusive and fairer for all citizens.
“The crux of the people’s demands to PH is that they want to see a complete reform of the entire political system… it is not their (voters’) sole wish to see one or two kleptocrats and their wives put behind bars.
“PH has many weaknesses and deficiencies. We are far from perfect, but we have one perfection, and that is our perfection in the intention to rebuild the nation,” he said.
He also labelled PH’s brief time as the ruling government following its historic win in the 14th general election as “a break from the paradigm of politics based purely on identity politics.”
“When PH fell and was kicked by its own friends, it was not just a betrayal to cabinet members like me who lost their positions.
“(The fall of PH) also ended PH’s ability to politically experiment on (its goal) to exit the race-based political dynamic which has held Malaysia hostage.”
During the political crisis in 2020, PH’s time as the federal government came to an abrupt end just 22 months after the coalition came into power in May 2018.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down as prime minister in February 2020 following the infamous Sheraton Move, leading to massive defections among those from PH and resulting in the coalition’s collapse in Parliament. – The Vibes, October 17, 2022
