KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — Labelled a “liar”, Rafizi Ramli shrugged off today a PAS leader’s denigration after a PKR-linked survey predicted the Islamist party will be the biggest loser at the 14th general elections.
“I won’t be dispirited by being called a liar and all sorts by the PAS leadership,” the Pandan MP and principal at big data firm Invoke Centre for Policy Initiatives (I-CPI) told ProjekMMO, Malay Mail Online’s sister publication today.
He was responding to PAS Dewan Ulama information chief Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali who reportedly dismissed I-CPI’s nationwide findings and its principal as untrustworthy compared to the Islamist party’s own “house-to-house” surveys on voter sentiments in the run-up to the general elections.
Rafizi asserted that I-CPI had followed international standards in its survey of what he considered a “large sample of 10,523 Malaysians”.
“My purpose in sharing that information is so that each Opposition party will have the real facts on the people’s sentiments so we can increase our attractive traits.
“To me, every party that takes heed by changing their approach and campaign will benefit when this survey is translated into a people-centric political strategy,” the PKR vice-president said.
He added that those who chose to “insult me will only be seen as being distant from the people’s real sentiment”.
The I-CPI survey released this week found that in a three-way contest at the polls, the Barisan Nasional coalition anchored by Umno is the first choice for voters followed by PKR — a member of the four-party Pakatan Harapan Opposition pact — and PAS trailing behind.
