Avoid fielding Malay DAP candidates in state constituencies, Johor Amanah urges Pakatan Harapan
(Malay Mail Online) – Pakatan Harapan should avoid fielding Malay candidates from DAP in state constituencies as it would be difficult to convince some voters there that the secular party was not anti-Malay or anti-Islam, Johor Amanah said today.
Johor Amanah leader Zulkelfy Ahmad made the suggestion after pointing out that many Malay voters in rural state constituencies still believed Umno’s claim of DAP being a party which was against Malay rights.
He claimed that Pakatan Harapan risked hurting its chances at winning seats in Johor, a Umno stronghold if it allowed DAP to field Malay candidates there.
“Malay votes are the deciding votes for Pakatan Harapan in Johor. We are not worried about support from out Tionghua friends, but we are very worried about support from our Malay voters in Johor.
“Therefore, Johor (Amanah) wants to suggest…if it’s practical enough, to have DAP not field any Malay candidates for state seats except in parliamentary constituencies. If need be field state candidates under PKR or Amanah’s logo,” he said during his speech at the Pakatan Harapan leadership conference here.
“The issues that I mentioned earlier, the anti-Malay and anti-Islam accusations hurled against our DAP comrade and at the same time picturing the 14th general election as a fight between Malay survival and the new power that is DAP…this is the perspective that we have to be concerned about,” Zulkefly added.
“So what we suggest is that our friends from all parties care for the sensitivities of the Malays, especially like the issue regarding Israel recently,” he said pointing out to a recent accusation by PAS that DAP obtained RM 1.2 billion in political funding from Israel.
PAS research director Dr Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki had alleged the DAP was offered RM1.2 billion by Israel if it won the 13th general election held in 2013.
Mohd Zuhdi reportedly said that one of the conditions of the offer was to establish an Israeli military base in Malaysia should the DAP come to power at the federal level.
DAP later claimed that the accusations were mere slander, threatening to initiate legal action against the PAS leader.
