PKR launches election website

www.demirakyat.my is the central point of information on the party’s election efforts, says Nik Nazmi.

PETALING JAYA: PKR today launched a website to canvass netizens for votes in the coming election.

PKR communications director Nik Azmi Nik Ahmad told reporters www.demirakyat.mywould serve as the party’s main election platform and the central point for information on its election efforts.

“The website is the place the public can visit to find out all they need to know about their candidates,” he said. “All our election materials, including candidate lists, will be included on the site.

“It will allow netizens to share our election messages, speeches, visuals and other paraphernalia either directly with people in their communities or with their virtual communities in Facebook and Twitter, for instance.”

Most important, Nik Nazmi quipped, would be the “donation page” because the “resource-strapped PKR” needed funds for its campaign.

The site informs donors how their money will be put to use. For example, a donation of RM100 would allow PKR volunteers to reach out to voters residing in rural areas.

“The website is a call to action and will be increased in capacity to display information about all election candidates as we progress to the general election,” Nik Nazmi said.

He said he expected www.demirakyat.my to attract large traffic, adding that it had been receiving 1,500 hits a day even before it was launched.

He said the target groups included Malaysians living overseas who might not return in time for the general election but could contribute in ways other than voting for Pakatan Rakyat candidates.

Social media

Nik Nazmi noted that the Internet had undergone vast changes since 2008 and said the new site would especially target those engaged in social media.

But Praba Ganesan, PKR’s social media strategist, said the site’s main objective was to provide a platform for discussion rather than to attract votes.

“You have to make something worth talking about,” he said. “It’s not about paving your way through the Internet, but about engaging with the people.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s Facebook had at least four times more “likes” than does PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Facebook.

“But if you look at how many people are talking about their pages or viralling their information, Anwar trumps Najib .”

Nik Nazmi said PKR regarded the Internet as a platform on which it could compete on the same level with BN, unlike the mainstream media.

“We see the Internet as a great leveller in the sense that we can compete with BN,” he said.

“We don’t get a chance to be on TV or on the radio. We don’t have much access to the mainstream media in terms of putting our message across. So this is one of the ways we can reach out to the people.”

He acknowledged that BN had stepped up its online presence since the last general election, but added that he was confident PKR’s message would resonate more strongly with the public.

“This is definitely a more level playing field that the mainstream media,” he said. “We can defeat BN on this terrain.”