By Amar Shah Mohsen
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed his disapproval at simplistic statements by certain quarters blaming Malay voters for supposedly being easily influenced by racial and religious rhetoric accentuated by the Opposition.
The Pakatan Harapan (Harapan) chairman said it takes time for Malaysians in general to truly understand and grasp the Madani concept being championed by his Unity Government.
“The Opposition will claim that if Harapan wins, the DAP and Chinese will be in power, and the rakyat will be doomed. This statement may convince voters, although I know it’s not true.
“But I don’t blame them. It takes time to understand the Madani concept (as it) is all-encompassing,” he told reporters after attending the groundbreaking ceremony of Residensi Prihatin and Madani Food Court in Desa Tasik, Sungai Besi, today.
“Voters don’t see the millions and billions of ringgit that are siphoned off. They may not know that the people they support sometimes have millions of ringgit in their pockets. I don’t blame them.”
Anwar said in this regard, it should be the responsibility of party leaders and machinery to properly explain the Malaysia Madani concept to the masses.
Previously, a study by research think tank Ilham Centre had found that nearly six out of 10 Malay voters from the six states that took part in the August 12 elections did not understand the Malaysia Madani concept.
Only about 39 per cent of Malays said they understood the policy, as opposed to 61 per cent of people in the Chinese community, 55 per cent of people in the Indian community and 75 per cent of people from other groups.
Various political analysts have also attributed Perikatan Nasional’s good showing in the state elections to its propagation of racial and religious rhetoric.
Anwar, however, said it is not strange for the public to take longer to understand a government policy, drawing comparisons to the rise of far-right politics in the west.
These include fascism, Nazism and narrow minded racial politics, he said.
“In the United States, we saw what happened with Donald Trump and Christian conservatism. So, we need to speak to the rakyat by using wisdom and confidence.
“I’ve stressed this in our Cabinet meeting yesterday. If we continue to work sincerely and fight corruption, it would be impossible for us to be rejected by the public.”
