PKR to campaign in 50 marginal seats for GE15, says Rafizi

 

PKR will focus on broadening its support base in 50 marginal constituencies which are likely to see tough multi-cornered fights in the upcoming general election, revealed its deputy president Rafizi Ramli.

He said the party aims to do so through its newly launched #AyuhMalaysia truck campaign.

"The definition of marginal seats today is more complicated, it involves seats with 50 to 70 percent of Malay electorates.

"Most of PKR seats are marginal seats and mixed seats can go either way," he said, adding that some of the seats will also be contested by its Pakatan Harapan allies.

The campaign, he said, will only be held on the weekend and the party aims to cover about six marginal seats per week.

“We will intensify the campaign toward the end of September or October and cover up to 13 parliamentary seats per week.

"This will allow us to focus on 40 to 50 marginal seats,” he told the media after the debut of the campaign in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The truck campaign was launched to arrest voter fatigue, with poor turnout threatening to scuttle PKR and Harapan's chances at the next polls.

It also aimed to attract first-time voters, fence-sitters and those who have turned away from the coalition since 2018.

The truck will be used to hold political rallies and discussions in constituencies nationwide, to reinvigorate interest in politics leading up to the polls.

Ramping up online presence

Rafizi also said that maintaining the party’s digital audience is important.

“Since 2018, up to three million people were watching (our videos and postings online) every month," he said.

The former Pandan MP believes that PKR leaders, including party president Anwar Ibrahim, vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and himself, can collectively take over Umno leader Najib Abdul Razak and his party’s traction, especially on social media, in a matter of weeks.

"Our combined social media footprint can overtake Umno's strength in three weeks," he added.

Rafizi claimed that Najib's popularity was only on Facebook but his presence is rarely felt on other social media platforms, adding that social media reach is measured based on the level of impression, engagement and sharing of each posting made.

"People are not returning to Umno. It's just Harapan’s lack of response to Najib's attack which is giving him the semblance of having support. (With that perception) people became demoralised and declined to cast their ballots.

"We hope the campaign truck will bring more confidence among fence-sitters," he added. - Mkini