“I think the battleground is now more with Malays. I would say that because Umno is playing the race card, very strongly and implanting these suspicions in the Malays, these insecurities. We got to go back to the Malays, the rural heartland to try and convince them,” Anwar said in his first formal interview with The Malaysian Insider.
The former deputy prime minister had previously declined or postponed interviews with The Malaysian Insider but is now on a media offensive ahead of PKR’s congress this weekend.
Anwar claimed the main reason Umno had successfully convinced the Malays in rural areas to reject Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was because of the Malay party’s dominance over information dissemination in the mainstream print and television media.
He said this has created misconceptions and a “brick wall” between the Malays and PR.
“We don’t have the media, except maybe The Malaysian Insider (laughs) but the mainstream media does not help. We have to work hard and we have to go down to meet up with these people.
“Once we get to address them, they (rural Malays) will understand the actual situation. But the problem is because we have not been given a space to reach out to them; ‘kita disekat, (we’re blocked)” he said.
The Malay vote was credited with BN’s Hulu Selangor win. — file picThe evidence of Malay majority support for BN was obvious during last month’s Hulu Selangor by-election where BN candidate P. Kamalanathan won against PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim by a slim majority. BN’s win had been attributed to Malay support in Felda areas whereas the Chines had been solidly behind PR.
Anwar stressed that Hulu Selangor was an example of how PR needed to gain Malay backing to secure a clean victory.“Look at Hulu Selangor, I mean generally we managed to defend a little bit better in Kuala Terengganu, we defended better in other areas. It’s just that we have problems where some areas are controlled (by Umno), like Felda Sungai Tengi, where votes went over to them.
“Look at Felda Sungai Buaya, where RM50,000 was given two days before by-election,” said Anwar.
But the one-time Umno member who rose to be deputy party president also claimed that PR had already begun going to the ground to work on winning Malay support.
According to Anwar, Malay-Melanau support for PR during the Sibu by-election was proof the federal opposition had begun to draw the community’s votes.
He claimed that Malay-Melanau support for PR/DAP had increased by at least 30 per cent from the previous election.The PKR leader believes Pakatan’s message would be understood but only if it can be delivered.“(We can get more Malay votes) as we have seen in Sibu, the Malay-Melanau support for the DAP prior to the last elections was between 10-13 per cent. In the by-election, in the two years we have now seen an increase of 30-40 per cent of Malay-Melanau support. This means if you work hard enough, and penetrate these areas, we have this enormous capacity (to win over Malay voters).
“I’ve always trusted the wisdom of the masses, in contrast to all the cynicism by some intellectuals thinking they (rural Malays) would have difficulty comprehending what you have to say or articulate,” said the Permatang Pauh MP.The PKR leader cautioned that PR did not have the luxury of time and revealed that plans were already in motion to consolidate support from states in the Malay peninsula.
Anwar said PR was now strengthening support in the states it ruled — Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan and Penang — before trying to take over BN-controlled states such as Perak and Malacca. It had won Perak but the PR government there was toppled through defections in February 2009.
“We have to (see to) this immediately, we have to see progress every month. The state leaderships must push the agenda forward... we have to consolidate Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, then move to regain Perak.“In Malacca we had an event where it was very successful among Malays as well as Chinese... I’m confident as long as they get a small window of opportunity to listen... that’s why Umno’s position is [to] close all possible doors for us (to reach to the Malays),” said Anwar.
The charismatic leader believed PR’s advantage over BN was in the “ability to conduct an open and civil dialogue.”“It’s not too much a problem. I’m not sounding a bit too confident or arrogant. They just don’t have access (to information)... they (Malays) ask about what’s going to happen to Malay poor in universities...“This is because they have never been told about affirmative action based on needs... they have never been told that billions of ringgit of Bumiputera shares are squandered by Umno leaders.
“Why are a few Malays rich and other (Malays) neglected? This reflects the failure of 50 years of Umno
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com
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