Charles: Harapan must work hard to manage PN's 'green wave'

 

Pakatan Harapan must work hard to shift ground sentiments following Perikatan Nasional's (PN) huge win in the Padang Serai parliamentary seat election.

For that, all cabinet ministers must be on the same page with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in making the people’s wellbeing the priority, said former Klang MP Charles Santiago.

“PN’s huge win in Padang Serai comes as no surprise as we have seen a similar pattern in the Northern Malay belt.

“It signals the persuasive green wave, which is worrying, and indicates Harapan has lots more work to do to shift ground sentiments,” Charles (above) said in a statement posted on Twitter today, referring to PAS’ influence in the stunning victory.

PN candidate Azman Nasrudin won the Padang Serai parliamentary seat last night with 51,637 votes, beating five other candidates with a majority of 16,260. The victory also witnessed PN seizing the seat from PKR, which has held it for three terms.

Following the victory, Azman, who is also Lunas state assemblyperson, vowed to be an effective voice for voters in the constituency.

'Make peoples' agenda priority'

Elaborating, Charles said one of the ways to mitigate the rise of “political Islam” is to manage the cost of living crisis that’s facing the country.

“PM Anwar has already kickstarted this initiative but all cabinet ministers must also make peoples’ agenda their priority,” he said.

According to PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin, PN’s huge victory in Padang Serai was a vote of no confidence in the new federal government.

Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin

He further claimed that the “lies” told by Harapan and BN in the 15th general election (GE15) are the “biggest electoral fraud ever”.

PN has won 13 out of 14 Parliamentary seats in Kedah and all seats in Perlis, Kelantan, and Terengganu - a phenomenon that some observers described as “PN’s northern crescent”.

The coalition now has 74 seats in Dewan Rakyat while its component party Bersatu has 31 seats. In contrast, Umno has only 26.- Mkini