Stop being in denial, Ibrahim Ali tells Umno Youth

Perkasa president slams Penang Umno Youth chief over 'PPBM insignificant' remark, reminding him that Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin were once leaders in the party.

PPBM will have an impact, says Ibrahim.

PETALING JAYA: Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali chided an Umno Youth leader, advising him not to be in denial over the impact PPBM will have on the next general election (GE14).

“Don’t look down on PPBM. It is led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other former Umno leaders like Muhyiddin Yassin.

“They will have an impact, so we can’t say they are insignificant,” the Malay rights group’s leader said about the party formed last September.

Ibrahim was commenting on a report in Malaysiakini, in which Penang Umno Youth chief Rafizal Abd Rahim said he didn’t believe a “Malay tsunami” will happen in GE14 as the impact of PPBM was “insignificant”.

Ibrahim said even though it was difficult to gauge just how much of an impact PPBM and its leaders would have on the polls, it was undeniable that they would be able to get more Malay votes for Pakatan Harapan.

One month to a year since PPBM was formed, the party has drawn 250,000 members, driven by Mahathir, who was Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister.

While Mahathir is PPBM chairman, the party’s president and deputy president are former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin and former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir.

Tariq says it is presumptuous of Rafizal to dismiss PPBM

PPBM supreme council member Tariq Ismail, the grandson of late Umno stalwart and deputy prime minister Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, says the party had made inroads in traditional Malay heartlands which for years had been monopolised by Umno and PAS.

“People in the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, come out and listen to us. But we don’t know how they think.

“However, we do know how they feel and hopefully what we say leads them to believe we are a better alternative.”

Speaking to FMT, Tariq said it was presumptuous of Rafizal to dismiss PPBM as being insignificant when the party has yet to go to the ballot box.

“He can’t decide how people will vote and neither can we. But Pakatan Harapan is doing work on the ground and we’ll let voters decide.”

Will there be a Malay tsunami?

On the possibility of a “Malay tsunami”, Ibrahim said he didn’t believe there would be a race-based tsunami in GE14. Rather, if a “tsunami” were to change Malaysia’s political landscape, it would be more a “Malaysian tsunami”, Tariq said.

“A lot will depend on how the people feel regarding various issues.

“The government has given its explanation on the issues but whether people will accept them or not, we don’t know,” he said, adding these issues included the health of the economy and 1MDB.

As far as Malay voters are concerned, Ibrahim said they were split between rural Malay voters and “elite” Malays, made up of urbanites, professionals and academicians, whom he said were more issue-oriented.

The rural voters, he said, were further divided between those who were dependent on government aid as well as those who will be influenced by the rising cost of living.

“Those who are dependent on government aid or handouts will vote for Barisan Nasional if they fear losing such aid.”

He added that the increased cost of living, such as rising prices of beef and fish, could affect Malay voters.

Political cyber warfare was also another concern.

“What I will say is that GE14 will be a close fight.”

In recent times, DAP’s Liew Chin Tong and Muhyiddin have predicted a “Malay tsunami” which could change Malaysia’s political landscape.

Awang Azman: Chances of Malay tsunami slim as the Malay votes are split among Umno, PAS and Pakatan Harapan.

Universiti Malaya political analyst Associate Prof Awang Azman Pawi said as it stands, the chances of a Malay tsunami happening were slim, due to the split in Malay votes among Umno, PAS and Pakatan Harapan.

He said if PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang loses his defamation suit against whistleblower site Sarawak Report, it could lead to a revolt within PAS and contribute towards a Malay tsunami in Pakatan Harapan’s favour.

In April, Hadi the Marang MP filed the defamation suit against Sarawak Report at the High Court in London over an article which suggested that Prime Minister Najib Razak had channelled RM90 million to PAS.

The Islamist party has refuted this allegation.

“Anyhow, it is difficult to say that PPBM is insignificant because even though they may not have many members, they do have many supporters,” he said, adding PPBM’s leaders were respected by many. - FMT