Do voters share any concerns about national scandals and
controversies? This was a question posed by PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli
after Barisan Nasional (BN) won two by-elections yesterday.
Rafizi said he was “shocked” with the results from Sungai
Besar and Kuala Kangsar.
The candidates from BN won with larger majorities: Sungai
Besar candidate Budiman Mohd Zohdi by 9,191 votes and Kuala Kangsar candidate
Mastura Mohd Yazid by 6,969 votes.
He said that the result was a clear sign that the voters in
the two areas did not care about the hardships that Malaysians face caused by
the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the rising cost of living and the affairs of
1Malaysia Development Berhad.
“Does this mean the rakyat does not actually care about the
hardships caused by GST? They do not feel angry about the money scandals that
added to their burden?” he said in a Facebook posting today.
He added that voters appeared to be still influenced by
racial sentiments or religion and materialism, which he said were the two
strongest weapons of Umno and BN.
Many voters surrender to corruption and embezzlement when it
comes to racial or religious issues because fighting ‘Cina DAP’, PKR and Amanah
is more important than the voters themselves, he said.
In terms of materialism, Rafizi explained that BN promises
of projects and money were effective in retaining a good number of votes.
“The Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections are proof
that the ‘materialistic disease’ has nothing to do with race, religion, time or
place,” he said.
Asked whether PAS should rejoin its former partners in the
new opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan, Rafizi said it had been in discussions
from the beginning and whether PAS wanted to be the third bloc was for PAS to
decide.
Source –FMT-
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