Pakatan confident of Penang Malays’ support in next GE
State executive councillor Abdul Malik Kassim said grassroots Malays have been very receptive towards PR, together with the Chinese and Indian voters, whom he claimed were already convinced that they “have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel”.
"People don’t seem to be bothered with what Umno is doing … with the current awareness level, the majority of them don’t care with what’s happening,” the state religious affairs committee chairman told The Malaysian Insider in an interview.
Penang has been embroiled in controversies in recent months following Umno’s allegations that the state government had discriminated against Malay traders and that several mosques in the state had dropped the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s name from Friday sermons in favour of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
A doctored picture purportedly showing Lim slaughtering cattle for Hari Raya Aidiladha celebrations also made the rounds on the Internet during Ramadan.
Recently, Umno, with the aid of its mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia, had accused the state government of using funds from gambling sources to make compassionate payments to senior citizens.
Abdul Malik, the Batu Maung assemblyman, said that whenever he felt obliged to explain to Malay community leaders about these allegations, the leaders often encouraged him to concentrate on his work instead of explaining to them because “Umno is trying to distract” the state administration from performing its duties.
He pointed out that support has also been encouraging in certain Umno strongholds, namely, Kepala Batas and Balik Pulau.
“Even Umno leaders are coming up and asking us why party leaders were attacking us during Ramadan,” he said.
He also said Umno was constantly “hitting below the belt” because it has run out of arguments against the state government’s policies.
“This is a litmus test for Umno, otherwise they will not be so focused in getting the support of Malay voters by attacking the state government.
“Malay voters are either the fastest to change [their mindset], or the last [to do so], so Umno is worried it would not get the support of Malays in Penang,” he added.
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