Perikatan ends convention with eye firmly on non-Malay vote, ropes in Syed Saddiq for nationwide tour

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) adopted 20 resolutions during its elected lawmakers’ convention today, said chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Among the priorities of the resolutions is to find ways in courting more support from the non-Malay voters for the next general election, he said.

“We touched on the percentage of voters in our country who give us support, which means there is another part, especially among non-Malay voters, we have to find a way to attract support from the Chinese, Indians and others.

“Support from the Malays can be said to be very good and still strong. I discussed with Dominic Lau (about) how Gerakan could be modelled into a new image, new approaches and ways to increase confidence and support for the PN,” he said in his closing remarks at the PN representatives Convention 2024, here.

The former prime minister said PN plans to be the coalition supported by all Malaysians regardless of race.

In a press conference later, Muhyiddin explained that PN wants to send the message that it is inclusive and not just a Malay Muslim party.

“We have the data from the recent GE and state elections. That shows in all constituencies where our position and strength is. First of all we acknowledge the support of the Bumiputera Malay Muslim community, which is the largest, which is a record, but support from non-Malays, Chinese, is still small. So, we get that. And we know why. So that is why in this convention, we recognised that we need to act more effectively. What are our steps to strengthen the position of the Indian communities?

“It means we are inclusive. So, if we can prove that with our actions, not only our views, and the non-Malay community understand better that we are not a Malay majority party, but based on all Malaysia races,” he said.

The other resolution passed in order to strengthen and courting more support, Muhyiddin said PN will conduct a roadshow dubbed “Jelajah PN” nationwide starting sometime after the fasting month of Ramadan this year.

He said Muar MP Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman will join in the programme as Muhyiddin said the former is “Pro-PN”.

The programme aims to listen to the complaints of the rakyat on the ground and what role can PN do to ease their burden.

Among the other resolutions passed are discussing federalism based on the federal constitution, strengthening the education ecosystem, and highlighting the role of youth and women in society.

PN, formed in the wake of the 2020 Malaysian political crisis to replace the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government by lynchpins PAS and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, saw the fledgling coalition win 74 federal seats — an increase of 41 seats from the previous general election held in 2018.

Islamist party PAS was the biggest gainer as it made a clean sweep in both Kelantan and Terengganu while increasing its seats in Perlis, Perak, Pahang and Kedah to a total of 43 (up 25 seats from the previous vote).

So much so that the so-called “green wave” of support for religious conservatism has now allowed PAS to become the single, most-represented Opposition party in Parliament, taking on the mantle once worn by Umno.

In the recent state elections, PN won 210 seats across the four states.