PAKATAN Harapan should not be too preoccupied with being popular, as its main focus should be on improving the lives of Malaysians before the next general election, said PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang.

Chua, commonly known as Tian Chua, said if PH hopes to remain in power for more than a term, it must give the people a sense that their lives have improved from during former prime minister Najib Razak’s reign.

The second tangible factor must be that the people acknowledge they now have a corrupt-free government, said the former Batu MP.

“Two key issues we must achieve is that people must feel their lives have improved under this government… They do not want to see the economic outlook (is) worse than it was under Najib’s era.

“The second is people must feel the government is open and transparent and corruption is reduced to a minimum. They must know that the government did not get into the bad habit of corruption,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Citing the pollster Merdeka Centre’s recent results which showed that only 39% of voters gave PH positive ratings, Chua reiterated that merely seeking to be popular would distract the government from its true objectives.

“We should be focusing on steps that are effective to win over people who are critical of us,” he said.

“What we need in the next year or so is to fulfil the expectations of the people who want to see the economy improve… the economy is quite crucial.

“Most people are angry and disappointed that they did not see a change in their livelihood when there was a change of government.

“They expected the cost of living to improve once the GST was removed. Unfortunately, we have not seen it,” he said, referring to the removal of the highly unpopular goods and services tax last year.

A dip in popularity for any new government is also normal, as evidenced in other countries around the world, he said.

“You check (former US president Barack) Obama’s first-year ratings, or Jokowi (Indonesian President Joko Widodo) or Duterte (Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte), they also came in with shining support and after the first year you always drop below 50%. That is normal.

“I don’t take this as a consolation but I take this as a phenomenon that is normal.

“People tend to be a lot more critical after you come into power, they tend to have higher expectations when you come into power.”

He added that if Umno and PAS are being polled on their popularity, they would get less than 40%.

“Let’s put all parties together and see how much PAS would get or how much Umno would get. PH would still comfortably hold 40% which is still majority.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t be too worried. I’m saying we shouldn’t be too distracted by this popularity thing.”

Chua, who was recently appointed as special adviser to Works Minister Baru Bian, said the positive economic effects of projects, such as the Pan Borneo Highway and the recently revived East Coast Railway Line (ECRL), will soon be felt, especially for those within the B40 group.

“With the ECRL, we will be able to improve the economy in the east coast. It will create lots of job opportunities. China has agreed to increase the indigenous component and input from more local contractors, more local material which creates more local jobs,” he said.

“The Pan Borneo Highway will also see a lot of outback areas getting access to roads and transport. That will allow rural products to be connected to the global market.”

Chua was disqualified from defending the Batu seat in the 14th general election on grounds that he had been fined RM2,000 for an offence he committed a month earlier. – May 2, 2019.