‘DAP TRYING TO RETAIN MALAY SUPPORT’
DAP worried as Pas is no longer allied with it, says Salleh
COMMUNICATIONS and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak says DAP’s propaganda is aimed at retaining the Malay votes that it won in the last general election.
The Umno treasurer said DAP’s record in general elections since 1990 proved that it could win a few parliamentary constituencies if it had the cooperation of Malaybased opposition parties, particularly PKR and Pas.
But, in the 1990 and 1999 general elections, he said, DAP could only win in Chinese-majority areas even though there was a split in Umno.
“But, in the 2008 and 2013 general elections where DAP gained a lot of Malay support as a result of cooperation with Pas and PKR, the number of DAP seats increased drastically after winning 28 (12.61 per cent) and 38 (17.1 per cent) respectively out of 222 parliamentary seats.
“Now that Pas is no longer with Pakatan Rakyat, DAP is worried.
“DAP is worried that the party is no longer strong. Hence, DAP has been issuing propaganda to ensure that the Malay voters in Pas remain with it in Pakatan Harapan,” he said in his blog posting at www.sskeruak.blogspot.my yesterday.
Salleh noted that DAP won 20 of the 57 parliamentary seats it contested in the 1990 general election, nine of 50 in 1995, 10 of 47 in 1999, 12 of 44 in 2004, 28 of 47 in 2008, and 38 of 51 in 2013.
If the Malays were not united, DAP could take control of the country even if it only contested 60 parliamentary seats in the 14th General Election by getting its allies in Pakatan Rakyat — Parti Amanah Negara, PKR and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia — to secure the Malay votes.
He noted that states such as Perak, Johor, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Melaka had many mixed-race seats, and DAP was confident that a shift of 10 to 15 per cent in Malay votes was enough for it to take over the country’s administration.
Thus, he reminded the Malays to avoid being emotional and think of the country’s future before they gave their support to Pakatan Harapan.
“The politics of Barisan Nasional is of doing good deeds and one of consensus among the races, and it has been proven successful in developing the country. We all have a responsibility towards our nation,” he said. Bernama