Pay heed to rakyat’s anxiety on economy, cost of living, says Anwar

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim says Pakatan Harapan must take stock of the Cameron Highlands by-election results.

PETALING JAYA: PKR president Anwar Ibrahim today urged Pakatan Harapan (PH) to take stock of the Cameron Highlands election results, which saw Barisan Nasional’s Ramli Mohd Nor elected as the new MP.

Anwar congratulated Ramli on winning the seat, and also lauded the Election Commission (EC) for running the by-election well, in terms of managing public complaints as well as the early announcement of the results.

“I believe that the results serve as a reminder to PKR and PH leaders that we need to be alert to the anxiety of the rakyat concerning the economy and the cost of living.

“We also need to work harder to fulfil the promises we made in the 14th general election (GE14), as well as address any problems relating to race and religion very carefully,” he said in a statement.

Ramli yesterday won the by-election by obtaining 12,038 votes, defeating PH’s M Manogaran (8,800 votes) and independent candidates Sallehudin Ab Talib (314) and Wong Seng Yee (276).

It was Manogaran’s third consecutive defeat since the 2013 general election.

In Seberang Perai, Penang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the ruling coalition would learn its lesson from the defeat.

“We will improve on things that need to be improved and address the shortcomings in facing the next by-election.

“This is because there are signs that if we continue to work hard, we will get more support,” Bernama quoted the finance minister as saying after the handing-out of aid for primary and secondary students in the Bagan parliamentary constituency today. - FMT