Lau: Zahid's DNAA ‘shot in the arm’ for Gerakan

JOHOR BY-ELECTIONS | Gerakan president Dominic Lau today said there was no need for the party to ramp up its campaign for Perikatan Nasional’s Pulai candidate Zulkifli Jaafar among Chinese and non-Malay voters, ahead of polling day on Sept 9.

This was despite an opportunity presented for the PN non-Malay component party to sway voters on the back of questions raised over Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's reform agenda.

When contacted, Lau noted a "new narrative" in the by-election campaign, triggered by a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision yesterday to grant an application from the prosecution for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on all 47 charges against Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on alleged corruption involving Yayasan Akalbudi.

"There is no need (for Gerakan) to bring the new narrative. It has already started among the Chinese community," Lau told Malaysiakini.

Explaining the new narrative, Lau said the prosecution's request for Zahid's DNAA triggered questions on the government's commitment to reforms.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

"This is not the reforms the public wanted to see. So the new narrative is that Anwar will go all out to remain as prime minister [...]

"We know what will happen in the future, even (former premier) Najib (Razak) can be released from jail. They (public) have already started talking about what kind of reformasi is this.

"It is not coming from PN, but directly from the Chinese community," he said.

Lau said this when asked whether Gerakan will lead PN components Bersatu and PAS to engage with more Chinese and non-Malay voters who are seen as a larger support base for Pakatan Harapan's candidate, Suhaizan Kaiat.

Earlier today, Johor Umno Youth chief Azleen Ambros had downplayed PN's renewed attempts to woo Chinese voters, saying instead their support for PN will still be hampered by reservations towards PAS.

Lau, however, said he believes that Zahid's verdict will trigger the Chinese community to consider the "bigger picture" and how their initial swing of support to Harapan was based on the coalition's commitment to reforms.

The Pulai seat comprises two state seats - Kempas and Perling - with 166,563 registered voters, according to Election Commission statistics as of the last 15th general election.

Of the two seats, Kempas has a bigger Malay voter base at 55 percent as of the last general election, while Perling was majority non-Malay at over 60 percent.

Entering the second week of campaigning, Harapan has so far hosted most of its larger functions in Perling, held by Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong, while PN through Bersatu and PAS had largely targeted Malay voters in Kempas. - Mkini