Chinese doubt govt’s commitment to reform after Zahid’s DNAA, says Lau

 

Gerakan president Dominic Lau said the Chinese community’s initial support for PH was based on the coalition’s commitment to reforms.

PETALING JAYA: There is no need to ramp up efforts to woo Chinese and other non-Malay voters for Perikatan Nasional (PN) in Johor, thanks to the discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) given to deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday,

Gerakan president Dominic Lau said the emergence of this “new narrative” had raised questions among the Chinese community about Putrajaya’s commitment to reforms, Malaysiakini reported.

“This is not the type of reform the public wanted to see. So the new narrative is that Anwar will go all out to remain as prime minister,” Lau was quoted as saying to the news portal.

“We know what will happen in the future — even (former prime minister) Najib Razak can be released from prison. The public has already started asking: ‘what kind of Reformasi is this?’

“This is not coming from PN, but directly from the Chinese community.”

Lau also said that Zahid’s verdict would make the Chinese community consider the “bigger picture” now and how their initial support for Pakatan Harapan (PH) was based on the coalition’s commitment to reforms.

Yesterday, Taman Medan assemblyman Afif Bahardin asked the Johor Chinese community to rethink their support for Barisan Nasional in light of the collapse of Zahid’s corruption trial.

At a ceramah in Kempas, Afif asked whether the non-Malays were willing to let Malaysia be “ruled by a corrupt regime” as he claimed that the Malays have rejected the corrupt by choosing PN. - FMT