Pakatan Harapan must focus on protecting Malay rights

Failure to face issues concerning the Malays is the reason why Pakatan Rakyat failed to defeat BN in the last GE, says PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli.

(Free Malaysia Today) – If Pakatan Harapan (PH) plans to successfully conquer Putrajaya, it needs to convince the Malays that their rights will be protected under its administration.

PKR’s secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said the approach taken by the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the last General Election (GE) – where the focus was more on economic and income issues, but not on the rights of the Malays – was the reason why they failed to be voted in as government.

“There are some Malays who dislike Umno and Barisan Nasional. They were aware of our troubled economy and corruption, but feared more the possibility that their race and religion would be threatened if they voted for PR. We weren’t very convincing when talking about those issues.

“Now we really have to tackle their (the Malays) psyche. Give them the answers they need to convince them that the Malay position will be in better hands if PH wins the next GE,” he said at a forum titled ‘Can the opposition win Malay votes in the 14th GE?’, here, last night.

The Pandan Member of Parliament also said it was important for the Opposition coalition to address the issue with “one voice” instead of having Amanah talk to the Malays and DAP speak to the Chinese.

To defeat BN at its own game, Rafizi said, PH could not employ the same tactics used by the ruling coalition.

“This is not only about winning the GE. It is about rewriting the country’s narrative as well as destroying excessive racial and religious politics that have cuffed the Malays. Once we get over this issue, we will not look back.”