Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is winning over the Indian community by channelling money to them through proxies, said economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
“The prime minister, through proxies, many whom are not really MIC, has created a number of little foundations where money has gone to the ground (to Indian communities).
“He (Najib) has come out and done certain things, which has affected public sentiment, so... I do think that there has been some sentiment which is very favourable to the BN.
“Exactly how much is very difficult to tell,” Jomo said.
He was speaking at a forum titled “Envisioning the Future: Malaysia Beyond GE14” at Bangsar today.
Other panellists included former Bank Negara deputy director Rosly Yaakob, former Treasury secretary-general Sheriff Kassim and Amanah strategic director Dzulkefly Ahmad, with DAP Klang MP Charles Santiago moderating.
Charles agreed with Jomo that the government has pumped in a lot of money to the Indian community.
He said that Najib is targeting Indians, especially those in Selangor, because he wants to win back the state.
“So Harapan really has to be careful in Selangor, to capture the imagination of Indians,” he said.
Jomo had warned earlier that the Chinese are also becoming less antagonistic towards BN as well as becoming more “despondent” over what Harapan can offer them.
Charles acknowledged the warning, saying that it could not be presumed that the Chinese will fully support Harapan in the upcoming general election (GE14).
However, Rosly, who is also a PAS member, insisted that non-Malay votes are still solidly with Harapan, especially in urban and semi-urban areas, where the opposition performed favourably in the previous general election.
Jomo then said that projections for GE14 should not merely be based on the results of past elections, as things have changed a lot since then.
“There is a tendency to build on your last experience, especially the experience of success, and to project from there.
“It is more difficult to see how things have changed, it is very difficult to measure,” he said.- Mkini
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