Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud was the DAP candidate in the Teluk Intan by-election, where she lost by a slim margin to Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong. A Malay rights group says Dyana should work harder to question Malay rights in order to win elections. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, June 2, 2014.
Perkasa has weighed in on DAP's defeat in the Teluk Intan by-election, saying that Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud can easily win the support of non-Malays in the future if she continues to question Malay rights, says its secretary-general Syed Hasan Syed Ali.
The Malay rights group said the first-time DAP candidate should also criticise Perkasa harder and fight for equality of all races and religion.
“Dyana can still move forward and be successful in the future. Dyana has to work harder to insult Perkasa,” said Syed Hasan.
“She has to work harder to question Malay rights and insisted for equal treatment for all citizens.
“Dyana also has to be vocal that provisions for Islamic development must be the same with other religions and not focused only on Islam," he said in a statement today.
The group also told the 27-year-old lawyer and her mother, Yammy Samat, to "burn" Perkasa's flag as proof of their non-allegiance to the organisation, in a reference to the latter's announcement last week that she was leaving the NGO as she no longer felt aligned with its objectives.
Yammy had initially denied she was a member of the group after pictures of her and Dyana at a Perkasa event began circulating online during campaigning week, only to admit later she was still an inactive member.
Perkasa also reminded Dyana to invite lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) supporters to help in her future's campaigning.
"If Dyana is steadfast in doing all this, she can definitely win easily. The non-Muslims and non-Malays will give their 100% support," Syed Hasan said.
Besides championing the rights of Malay and Islam, Perkasa is well known for its staunch opposition to LGBT rights, which it claimed were against the teachings of the Quran and Hadith.
In congratulating Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong, the NGO said BN was lucky to have wrested the seat back from DAP because the Teluk Intan electorate was unable to accept a political greenhorn with no experience in fighting for the rights of the people.
"Gerakan is still depending on votes from both Malay and Indian voters. So when you have been made a minister, please don't forget both communities in Teluk Intan," it told Mah in response to a pledge by the prime minister that the Gerakan president would be appointed to the cabinet.
In Saturday's by-election, BN wrested back the Teluk Intan federal seat from DAP with a razor-thin majority of 238 votes, beating Dyana who obtained 19,919 votes against Mah's 20,157 votes. There were 550 spoilt votes.
Both DAP and political analysts agreed that the lower turnout rate of 66.7% was one of the factors that contributed to BN's victory as the ageing electorate chose practicality and familiarity in local boy Mah.
In last year's general election, the turnout was at 80.7%, boosted by droves of young voters who returned and exercised their voting rights.
Mah first became MP for Teluk Intan after winning the seat in the 1999 and 2004 general elections, before losing to DAP's M. Manogaran and Seah Leong Peng in the 2008 and 2013 general elections.
Seah died from cancer on May 1, triggering a by-election.
- TMI
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