GEORGE TOWN: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said PAS threatened the rights of non-Muslims, as ensured under the Federal Constitution, through their leaders’ hawkish talk, denying claims by a PAS leader that it was not so.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had denied Lim’s earlier retort and “challenged” him to provide proof that the PAS leadership had wanted to end the rights of non-Muslims and non-Malays in the country.

In a statement today, Lim gave four instances where PAS’ top leaders have made remarks detrimental to non-Muslim rights in the country.

The finance minister said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang himself had thrice made such extremist remarks, which threatened the peace and harmony in this multiracial country.

Lim said on Dec 22, 2017, Hadi had said it was “not a policy or a concept, but a must” to have the country’s main leadership to be helmed by Muslims, while non-Muslims are to take up administrative roles and jobs as “experts”.

He said Hadi, on Jan 8, had called on Muslims to choose Muslim leaders without taking into account their past transgressions. Hadi had also claimed that a non-Muslim leader “would end in hell”.

And in an Oct 7 statement, Hadi had said it was “haram” for Muslims to surrender power to a non-Muslim, Lim said.

Lim said PAS Youth deputy chief Ahmad Fadhil Shaarhad said the country’s top posts such as the chief justice, and top Cabinet ministers, such as the finance minister, among others, ought to be held by a Malay Muslim.

“These statements are enough for us to doubt PAS’ sincerity in upholding a democratic system where people of all races and faiths have their rights protected under the Federal Constitution.

“Sadly, parties like MCA, which previously proclaimed it was shunning extremist politics and discrimination against non-Muslims, are now a political ally of PAS and has never questioned PAS on these matters.

“It is clear, under a PAS and Umno government, a non-Muslim leader who supports them, such as MCA’s Wee Ka Siong and Wee Jeck Seng, would never have the chance to be Penang’s chief minister, or even to hold a federal ministership.”

Yesterday, Tuan Ibrahim had said PAS was an experienced political party in a multiracial Malaysia and has never once deprived non-Muslims of their rights.

He gave the example of Kelantan, where he said in over 30 years of PAS rule, non-Muslims were allowed to practise their own faiths, open businesses and work in the government.

SHAH ALAM, Nov 13 — The Selangor government is working on several measures to resolve the bad debt problem of the Universiti Selangor (Unisel) totalling about RM30 million, the state legislative assembly was told today.

Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari said the problem had caused the income of the university to decline since 2006.

“The state government is working on several aspects and yesterday we had a board meeting to address the problem.

“The declining trend has been experienced since 2006 and the total debt is almost RM30 million,” he said when replying to a supplementary question from Ronnie Liu (DAP-Sungai Pelek).

Amirudin said the state government had also provided nearly RM45 million in subsidies to Unisel to ensure that the university’s Faculty of Engineering could continue to operate.

“This move was made because most other institutions of higher learning have closed the faculty due to the shortage of students.

“As of the end of 2018, Unisel has 11,328 students. Two faculties, namely the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences and Faculty of Business and Accounting here, have about 7,000 students,” he said.

The state legislative assembly adjourned sine die. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong today expressed hopes that the Tanjung Piai by-election this Saturday will mark a new phase for a government under a stronger Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

Liew said it was time to strengthen Pakatan Harapan to work towards the consolidation of democratic gains made in the 2018 elections, when the coalition won federal power.

“I sincerely pray that the Tanjung Piai by-election will be the new beginning of the second phase of the Pakatan Harapan government.

“In this new beginning, I wish to see that our civil servants, members of the public and everyone else will share the confidence that this Pakatan Harapan government is here to stay,” he said in a speech in Pontian, pointing to history as a lesson.

Liew said that PH’s political rivals should not seek to disrupt the government via “backdoor” methods. 

“Even our opponents must realise that any attempt for a “backdoor” government will not work out. There is no point to try to break up this government in mid-term.

“I am sure majority of the rakyat would like to see this government be given its full mandate of five years to perform. It begins here in Tanjung Piai,” he said.

Earlier in the same speech text that was made available to Malay Mail, Liew retraced the hard-earned electoral victories in the past by the former opposition coalition against Barisan Nasional (BN), also citing the example of the struggles involved in convincing civil servants in Penang that the Pakatan parties would survive as the Penang government after taking over from BN in the 2008 national polls.

“Many civil servants thought the state government would not survive. Although most of them had no malicious intent, they were afraid of cooperating with the new state government, for fear of persecution if the BN government made a comeback,” Liew said in a statement today.

Liew added that 2008 had saw weekly protests held by Penang Umno against the Penang state government and the regular occurrence of racial statements aimed at destabilising the Penang administration then.

He said the Permatang Pauh by-election in August 2008 with a resounding majority victory by PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had resulted in a sudden change of mood among the Penang civil service, noting that it was as if the results then had convinced the state civil servants that the “government of the day would stay for the long haul”.

“They began to believe that it was time to get down to work and make things happen. They were confident that the Pakatan government would not be easily rocked despite the onslaught by the then BN-controlled media,” he said.

Liew’s speech in calling for PH to be strengthened comes after what he described as a “crisis” last month, referring to attempts to paint DAP as alleged terrorists or communists and also of an alleged plot to attempt to oust DAP and Amanah from the PH government.

PONTIAN: In the wake of the 14-day campaign for the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election, contesting parties and candidates need to come up with a strategy to penetrate the so-called “black” polling areas for them and look for “white” sections to ensure their victory.

The ability to identify accurately these white and black areas, and even grey areas (those with a 50-50 chance of winning), would be the most important factor for success.

However, the question remains as to how to make sure the interpretation of white, grey or black is done correctly and to change the colour of the area through concerted efforts.

Each political party has its own strategy in identifying the colour of a particular area.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) machinery officer Azlina Mehtab Mohd Ishaq said they would distribute survey forms and mini-brochures on a candidate at designated locations as well as obtain feedback from residents and the local community.

“Some welcome us with open hearts, smiling and chatting. Some close their doors. Some hang their party flags at the fence. There are all kinds of ways (to show their support),” she told Bernama.

PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin said in comparison with the 14th general election (GE14), the response in some “black areas” had improved through house-to-house visits and ceramahs for all races and religions.

“We explain the importance of voting, especially to young voters. Whatever response we get, PH needs to work hard,” he said.

Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also Umno president, said in terms of changing the colour of an area, many different ways could be used by the party’s leadership. Sometimes, using the local dialect as well as keeping up with their culture and food breaks down barriers.

“If we can communicate in Javanese, then we’ll do it. The voters in Tanjung Piai are diverse. So, we need to have various strategies,” he said.

Gerakan candidate Wendy Subramaniam, who is facing candidates from two major political parties, PH and BN, said she is trying to penetrate the black or grey areas by reaching out to the people in coffee shops and public markets early in the morning.

“I prefer approaching the voters and hearing out their problems,” she said.

Political analyst Mohd Akbal Abdullah said the areas are classified according to the polarisation of the voters, based on current issues, their preferred parties and leaders.

He explained issues that arose before the campaign would be the focus of the voters.

“Voters are getting smarter and they know what to do. Different approaches are necessary. If the area is white, the machinery needs to increase the party’s supporters to keep the people there happy.

“For grey area, there should be more information on the party’s stand on current issues so that the voters are clear and there will be no misunderstanding.

“If the area is black, they have to work even harder. They can take the risk to enter the area or just ignore it totally.

“The colour of an area is not absolute and depends on the efforts of election workers within these two weeks,” he said.

The Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election was called following the death of incumbent MP Dr Md Farid Md Rafik, 42, of PH, on Sept 21 due to heart complications. Polling is on Saturday.

The by-election is seeing a six-cornered fight involving Karmaine Sardini (PH), Wee Jeck Seng (BN), Wendy (Gerakan), Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz (Berjasa) and two independent candidates — Dr Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abd Ghaffar.