Monday, May 2, 2011

Selangor PKR sure Pakatan can win two-thirds majority

UPDATED @ 05:24:53 PM 02-05-2011
May 02, 2011
Shuhaimi (left) and Zuraida hold up promotional material for the planned road show. — Picture by Boo Su-Lyn
PETALING JAYA, May 2 — Selangor PKR expressed confidence today that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will win two-thirds of the state seats in the next general election, saying support for the pact has not dwindled.

Selangor PKR information chief Shuhaimi Shafiei also refuted the notion that the coalition’s Malay support was dwindling, pointing out that the recent Sarawak election had shown the reverse.

“Results from the Sarawak election show an increased support in Malay areas,” Shuhaimi told reporters today.

“Voters, even though they are Malays, still reject Barisan Nasional (BN),” he added.

Selangor PKR deputy chairman Zuraida Kamaruddin said it was a “small matter” for PR to secure a two-thirds majority in the Selangor state assembly.

“I don’t think it’s a problem this time for us, not just to get two-thirds, but the whole of Selangor in the 13th general election,” said Zuraida at the same press conference.

PKR won only three out of 49 seats it contested in the Sarawak state polls on April 16.

But PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli said recently that the party had seen a positive vote swing in 26 of the 49 seats it contested, with the highest swing in Meluan, an Iban seat.

He also noted there was a steady swing towards PKR and the pact in general from all the communities.

According to figures provided in PKR’s preliminary analysis, the party and PR had averaged 19 per cent of support from the Malay/Melanau community, 32 per cent from the Ibans, 65 per cent from the Chinese, 26 per cent from the Bidayuhs, and between 22 and 56 per cent from the Orang Ulus.

In the Sarawak poll, DAP won an unprecedented 12 seats while PAS failed to win any of the five seats it contested.

BN triumphed in 55 seats, down eight seats from its previous 63 seats during the 2006 polls, and had its popular vote dip eight per cent to 54.5 per cent.

“The people can see the difference between the Pakatan Rakyat government and BN-Umno government,” said Zuraida today.

“We see that BN-Umno is very scared,” she added, pointing out that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have visited Selangor constituencies.

Zuraida also said PKR would focus on wresting six parliamentary seats from BN in the next general election, namely Sg Besar, Sabak Bernam, Tanjong Karang, Sepang, Pandan and Hulu Selangor.

“Pandan is mixed, but those (first) four seats are majority-Malay seats that PKR had failed to win in the 12th general election,” said Zuraida, who is the PKR Wanita chief and Ampang MP.

The next general election is widely speculated to be held by year end.

Zuraida said Selangor PKR will launch a state-wide road show starting this Saturday to address BN’s use of “dirty tactics” against the opposition pact.

“BN is so desperate that they resort to dirty tactics,” she said, referring to the sex video allegedly featuring Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“They (voters) doubt this sex video. With this explanation, we expect that Malay voters will return and support PKR and Pakatan Rakyat,” Zuraida added.

Shuhaimi said the Jelajah Selangor Tawan Malaysia (Jelas) road show will also highlight Anwar’s Sodomy II trial before the High Court decides on May 16 if the PKR de-facto leader needs to enter his defence.

“It is important for us to raise the momentum and mood before the elections... We will (also) explain what the Selangor government has been doing the past three years,” said Shuhaimi.

The PKR central leadership council member added that PR’s “Buku Jingga” would be highlighted in the road show.

“Our message is to choose a government that already has a good plan which takes care of people’s welfare, and that we are not corrupt,” said Shuhaimi.

The “Buku Jingga”, unveiled by the opposition coalition last December, proposes, among others, an increase in teachers’ incentives, the abolishment of the tolled highway system, and an annulment of the Internal Security Act.

Source: Malaysian Insider

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