‘Zahid is proof BN’s demise has begun’

Zahid Hamidi is ignoring the voice of almost half a million people to his own detriment, warns PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli.

PETALING JAYA: Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s call for Malaysians unhappy with the political system to leave the country has kick-started Barisan Nasional’s demise in the country, PKR’s Rafizi Ramli warned today.

“Instead of looking in the mirror and asking themselves why they lost the popular vote, these senior ministers are arrogantly telling Malaysians to leave the country.

“Because of this, I have no confidence that BN is capable of reform. Their attitude will get worse and worse, and that’s why I feel the demise of BN has already begun because of their arrogance. And that arrogance will help cement support for Pakatan,” he added.

The PKR strategy director was responding to Ahmad Zahid’s opinion piece in Utusan Malaysia today titled “Perhimpunan haram sebab tak terima hakikat gagal kuasai Putrajaya” (Illegal gatherings due to refusal to accept failure in taking over Putrajaya).

Ahmad Zahid, who was appointed Home Minister just yesterday, wrote: “Leaders of the opposition, particularly PKR and DAP, have confused Chinese youths and politically blind followers to dress in black as a sign of protest towards the general election 2013 results which they say favour them based on popular votes.

“If these groups wish to use the list system of single transferable vote system used by republican countries, they should emigrate to those countries to practice their political beliefs.”

BN had won 5,237,699 votes on election day, as opposed to Pakatan Rakyat’s 5,623,984 votes.

But BN managed to retain its hold over Putrajaya due to the fact that it won 133 federal seats, compared to Pakatan’s 89 seats.

‘Stop being in denial’

However, Rafizi pointed out that hundreds of thousands of Pakatan supporters had taken to the streets since the results were announced, and this was not a matter that BN leaders should take lightly.

“Our rallies have been unprecedented – we gave notice one or two days just to see the response, and it continues to attract hundreds of thousands. This means that the people’s anger and dissatisfaction over election results is real.

“We expect the number of rally-goers to surpass half a million by the end of the week, and if Zahid wishes to ignore the voice of that many people, he is doing that to his detriment,” warned Rafizi.

He added that Zahid’s remarks did not bode well for the latter’s future as home minister.

“He is home minister, issues of nationality is under his purview, so he should be more careful. I am worried that the arrogant statements he is making could affect our country’s democracy.

“But what is certain is that he should not be in denial. He should not try to deny the call of electoral reforms, which is real and strong,” stressed Rafizi.

“If they ignore that, it is to their own detriment.”