Heed KJ’s advice to woo right-wing Malays, analyst tells PKR
Published on: Sunday, April 21, 2024
By:
FMT, Shahrul Shahabudin
Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin says PH, particularly its lynchpin PKR, will have to win over the right-wing Malays to stay in power.
PETALING JAYA: An analyst says PKR should heed Khairy Jamaluddin’s advice to try and win over the right-wing Malays, asserting that such a strategy would not necessarily alienate the party’s traditional supporters.
Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) said PKR can maintain the backing of its core supporters, which are made up of moderate Malays, urbanites and non-Malays, as long as it does not resort to racial rhetoric when courting the conservative Malays.
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“If PKR fights for Malay rights as stipulated in the Federal Constitution, it will not lead to them losing support from non-Malays because they can also advocate for non-Malay rights as outlined in the constitution,” he told FMT.
He said securing backing from the right-wing Malay demographic is vital for any political party due to the community’s significant population.
Mazlan said PKR’s survival may be at risk if it continues to go after urban and semi-urban voters alongside DAP and Amanah, which share a similar support base.
“So, to ensure PKR’s survival in the future, it also needs a significant number of Malay votes to enable it to dominate the semi-urban and rural areas,” he said.
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On Tuesday, Khairy, who is also a former Umno Youth chief, said PH, particularly its lynchpin PKR, will have to win over the right-wing Malays to stay in power.
He said this means that PKR will have to make overtures with the likes of Umno and PAS.
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He argued that the coalition can no longer count on its core mainly moderate multiracial support to stay on in Putrajaya after the next general election.
James Chin of the University of Tasmania disagreed with Khairy’s viewpoint, noting that the right-wing Malay segment is already heavily saturated with parties like PAS and Bersatu, posing a challenge for PKR.
Chin said PKR should focus on alleviating the Malay community’s concerns about their diminishing political influence by sharing that the non-Malay population is expected to decrease in the coming years.
“In 20 years, it is possible that they (non-Malays) will constitute less than 20% of the population,” he said.
“By that time, all the right-wing parties could not say what they want against the Chinese and Indians because there is no way that 20% of the population or less could overtake the Malay community’s political dominance.”
The National Census 2020 report indicated that Bumiputeras comprised 69.4% of Malaysia’s population, while the Chinese and Indian ethnicities collectively make up less than 30%.
In 2017, Centre for Research, Advisory and Technology CEO Ng Yeen Seen estimated that the Malaysian Chinese will dip below 20% by 2030, down from 37.2% in 1957.
The Selangor Indian Consultative Council also told FMT that the Indian community is expected to constitute only 5.5% of the population by 2030, reflecting a consistent decline from 7.3% in 2010 to 6.7% in 2020.
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