Unlike Umno and PAS, PH will not use race, religion to win polls – Chong
KUCHING: Pakatan Harapan ( PH) will not stoop to playing the race and religion card to win elections at both national and state levels.
PH Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen stressed that such tactic – often employed by Umno and PAS to win support from the people – was not only unhealthy but also dangerous for the country.
“We noticed from PH’s loss in the Semenyih and Cameron by- elections, there is a very dangerous trend in our Malaysian politics whereby racial and religious issues do play an important role which can sway votes and determine the victory or loss of the party.
“However, we will not resort to playing such cards as for PH, our struggle is to focus on an agenda which cuts across all races and religions,” he told a press conference at DAP Sarawak headquarters, here yesterday.
Chong, who is also DAP Sarawak chairman, stressed that the PH government focuses more on economic development and issues such as improving the welfare of the people as well as on the economy, education and healthcare.
“These are issues which cut across all races and religions and we will continue to fight for better delivery and policies along these agenda.”
On PH losing to Barisan Nasional ( BN) in the Semenyih state by- election on Saturday, Chong said this, along with the defeat in the Cameron Highlands by-election, should serve as a wakeup call to the ruling coalition.
“We respect the decision of the people and accept the defeat, which should serve as a wake-up call to PH both at national and state levels.
“Although we may have won in the general election and took over as the ruling government, all elections are unpredictable. You can lose if you don’t ( perform) well.”
He believed that one of the reasons which caused PH to lose the state seat in Selangor was due to unfulfilled promises from the coalition’s manifesto.
“There are some promises made during the general election that have not been delivered and although it’s been nine months since we took over, there are some promises which are quite impossible to be delivered, and there are also some that can be delivered but have yet to be fulfilled.
“These are the things that we have to look into in the PH government and we need to buck up and put in more effort to deliver our election promises,” he added.
The Semenyih by- election on Saturday saw BN wrest the seat from PH where its candidate Zakaria Hanafi garnered 19,780 votes against Muhammad Aiman Zainali from PH (17,866 votes), Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul from Parti Sosialis Malaysia ( 846 votes) and independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng (725 votes).