Refusal to address main issues led to opposition’s defeat, says Guan Eng

 

Lim Guan Eng has blamed Pakatan Harapan’s defeat in the Johor elections on the failure to use a common logo, a common vision, or any discussion of an MB candidate, among others.

PETALING JAYA: It is pointless to pin the blame of Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) defeat in the Johor elections on lower voter turnout to cover up for the continued refusal to address the main issues, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said.

Lim said “the lack of opposition unity caused by the failure to use a common logo, a common vision, or any discussion of an MB candidate” did not help.

This, he said, was compounded by the fragmentation of opposition support with many opposition parties contesting against each other.

“There is an urgent need to think as a coalition, not focused solely on the narrow interest of one’s own party,” he said in a statement today.

He said the PH component parties had to bear some responsibility for their defeat in the elections.

“Only then can we avoid losing all our seats and offer hope of revival and victory at the next general election.”

PH won only 12 of the 56 seats up for grabs. BN won 40 seats.

PKR had used its own logo in the elections while Amanah and DAP contested under the PH banner.

Lim rejected Covid-19 as an excuse, adding that “polling stations are so much safer than markets and coffee shops where members of the public mingle”.

“There is no use attributing PH’s loss to lower voter turnout,” he said.

He said the Covid-19 clusters of voters and workers involved in polling stations were trivial compared to public areas such as markets and coffee shops, where even candidates campaigning had been infected with the virus. - FMT