KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — Perkasa has rejected Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the Semenyih by-election, accusing the ruling coalition of being insufficiently committed to the interests of Malays and Islam.
The Malay rights group did not explicitly endorse Barisan Nasional (BN), but expressed support for unity between Umno and PAS.
“The actions of PH since winning the 14th general election last year has disappointed many Muslims, Malays and Bumiputeras. These include nominating non-Malays for important posts within government-linked companies, and up to RM12 million in allocation for private Chinese schools even as many more national schools are in dire need of infrastructural improvement, among others,” Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said in a statement.
This combined with the perception that Islam is being sidelined as the federation’s official religion and Article 153 over the special rights of the Malays and Sabah and Sarawak’s Bumiputeras has led Perkasa to reject PH candidate Muhammad Aiman Zainali, contesting under Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM).
Syed Hassan said Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), which is also running in Semenyih, had a different ideology from Perkasa, while the independent candidate was not discussed by Perkasa’s supreme council.
“However the supreme council’s decision applies only to Semenyih, and will not be the case in future similar instances. It was made to express Perkasa’s disappointment and is our formal protest, in line with our aims to defend the interests of Islam, the Malays, and Bumiputeras,” Syed Hassan said.
However, he added Perkasa was willing to change its stance in the future should PH take positive steps in defending these rights.
“It will depend on what kind of positive actions taken, which we will look out for from time to time.
“Perkasa also hopes the ongoing movement of unity among the Ummah as done by Umno and PAS will continue and eventually return political power to Muslims which can guarantee the safeguarding of Malay and Bumiputera rights,” Syed Hassan said.
He called upon Perkasa members and Malay voters in the Semenyih constituency to make the right decision in rejecting Muhammad Aiman, so as to show their dissatisfaction at how PH has handled their rights since the 14th general election.
The by-election, which concludes on March 2, will be a four-cornered fight between Muhammad Aiman, Umno’s Zakaria Hanafi, PSM’s Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul, and independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng.
