PAS mulls plans to win more Malay votes

By Adib Zalkapli

May 24, 2010

PAS Youth, under Nasrudin, has been tasked with gathering information for the strategies. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 — The central PAS leadership will meet after the upcoming annual muktamar to finalise their strategies to win over Umno strongholds in the next general election, which have thus far resisted their charms.
The Islamist party has engaged the services of an opinion polls researcher to identify the concerns of the Malay voters, especially in the west coast and the southern peninsula, which is solid Umno country.
“We are still having problems convincing the rural Malays who do not have access to the new media. Those who still rely on television as their source of news,” said PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan in confirming the retreat, which will be held sometime in July.
Nasrudin described the retreat as the final preparation before the party heads to the 13th general election that must be held by 2013.
“As soon [as] after the muktamar, we will start our work. By that time, we [are] already in the final round before the time comes for general election,” Nasrudin told The Malaysian Insider.
PAS will hold its annual muktamar from June 9 to 13. The retreat was supposed to be held earlier this month but had to be postponed because of the Sibu by-election.
The party’s Youth wing has been tasked with gathering information to be tabled during the retreat.

Bagan Pinang showed that PAS still was unable to penetrate Umno strongholds. — file pic

Nasrudin, however, refused to disclose the early findings, adding that all research outcomes would be presented to the central leadership. PAS and its partners in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have not been able to make significant inroads into the Umno-controlled Malay heartland.
The Islamist party lost badly in the Bagan Pinang by-election late last year. The Negri Sembilan state constituency was approximately 66 per cent Malay.
In Hulu Selangor PR, through PKR candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, lost in the by-election due to the party’s failure to win the rural Malay votes in the constituency despite increasing the support levels in the Chinese-majority town centre.
The campaign in the Malay-majority semi-rural Hulu Selangor was led by PAS leaders, including its spiritual advisor, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, who made last minute visits in the constituency’s Felda settlements.
In the Sibu by-election last weekend, the party helped DAP in the campaign in Muslim majority areas, which were strongholds of Sarawak’s Malay/Melanau party, PBB, but failed to make significant inroads.
Apart from the challenge of breaking Umno’s monopoly of the rural Malay vote, PR was also competing against Malay rights group, Perkasa, led by Datuk Ibrahim Ali and which has been gaining popularity since its inception in 2008.
“In trying to win the Malay votes, it does not mean we will be trapped into fanning racial sentiments. Our aim is increase the Malay support but at the same time we will make sure that we will not lose the non-Malay support,” said Nasrudin, who added that PAS would not violate PR’s common policy framework in its drive to win the Malay votes. - The Malaysian Insider