BUKIT GANTANG POST-MORTEM: LESS MALAY SUPPORT FOR PAS

PAS admits dip in Malay votes
PAS has admitted that it lost a portion of Malay votes during the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election held yesterday.

MCPX

At a press conference today, Perak PAS deputy chief and elections director Asmuni Awi revealed that the party only secured 43 percent of the total Malay votes.

This is a significant drop from the estimated 47 percent of Malay votes obtained during the 2008 general election by then PAS candidate, the late Roslan Shaharom.

Asmuni attributed the drop to the fact that the Barisan Nasional candidate Ismail Saffian (right) was an established local boy and that it was an uphill task to penetrate rural areas.

"Bukit Gantang is an Umno stronghold. We have never made any inroads here since independence, until the last general election," he said, adding that the party only expected to bag 40 percent of the Malay votes.

Nevertheless, Asmuni vowed that the party will continue to explain to the Malay voters about issues raised by Umno during the campaign, namely the Chinese-stooge issue, the 'derhaka' (treason) issue and the decision by the Pakatan Rakyat state government to grant freehold status to Chinese new villages.

No reason for PAS to worry if PAS is genuine to serve the rakyat regardless of race and religion.