KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 ― Umno is likely to be supplanted by rival PAS at the next general elections in the wake of the Islamist party’s breakup with DAP for neglecting its core Malay voters, Perkasa’s Datuk Ibrahim Ali said today.
The president of the Malay rights group said PAS has gained an advantage on Malay voters now that they were no longer associated with DAP, whose members are predominantly ethnic Chinese.
“When PAS separates from DAP and PKR, this becomes dangerous to Umno, a dangerous threat. Before this, Malays voted Umno because they do not have an alternative,” Ibrahim told a news conference here.
“If PAS starts speaking out on issues concerning Malays and Bumiputeras, this will attract Malay voters. If they start talking about economic issues for Malays, aside from Islamic agendas.”
He added one of the many issues that frustrated Malay voters on Umno included the recent 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) which he previously claimed have failed in giving adequate recognition to Bumiputera rights and policies.
Perkasa has previously urged the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government to review the five-year development plan, asking for “a clause or phrase related to Malays or Bumiputera in all chapters”.
The group warned that Malay voters were growing increasingly disillusioned with the BN’s Malay anchor party for allegedly failing to protect the community as the country strives to become globally competitive in its ambition to reach developed nation status by 2020.
PAS, an Islam-based opposition party that is largely Malay, had recently cut ties with DAP after the secular party opposed its plan to roll out strict Shariah penal laws in Kelantan.
The fallout following PAS’s annual congress earlier this month has effectively ended the seven-year pact it held with DAP and PKR, following their massive gains in Election 2008.
