THE new Perikatan Nasional pact at the federal level is good news for the Malays, said voters in Nibong Tebal, a Malay-dominated constituency in Penang.
The voters also largely backed their MP Mansor Othman of PKR for joining forces with Perikatan Nasional.
Voters here told The Malaysian Insight that the new government led by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin will ensure Malay and Islam interests are taken care of.
They are also confident that the ruling pact helmed by Malay parties Bersatu, Umno, Islamist party PAS and a faction of former PKR members led by Mohamed Azmin Ali, will again ensure Malay agencies such as Lembaga Tabung Haji, Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) are made government priorities again.
Farmer Zamri Mat Nan of Sg Acheh in Nibong Tebal has only voted for Barisan Nasional (BN) all his adult life.
In the last general election, the 55-year-old voted for BN candidate Shaik Hussein Mydin, who lost lost to Mansor.
Today, Zamri is an elated man seeing Mansor supporting Perikatan Nasional.
“When I heard Mansor had defected to Perikatan Nasional, I deemed that to be a good news for all Malays.
“Now that the majority of the MPs in the new government are Malays, I believe there will no longer be cases of people insulting the Agong, the Malays and Islam because the voice of the non-Malays is not as strong like before,” Zamri said when met at a stall in Kg Sungai Star Kecil, Sg Acheh.
He was also pleased when Muhyiddin was appointed prime minister.
“Muhyiddin was appointed by the Agong. Whether Muhyiddin has the support of the majority of lawmakers or not, his appointment is made by the king with the powers he is given.
“Although this new government is not the result of an election, it is the choice of the Agong, an institution of the Malay rulers,” he said.
Factory worker Rahim, meanwhile, is confident the new government will improve the economy of the Malays.
“When Pakatan Harapan (PH) ruled, Tabung Haji grants and ASB share dividends were at their lowest.
“Maybe they have their reasons, but ordinary people are tired of hearing excuses.
“Therefore, this coalition is long awaited by the Malays. I am sure they will fix the problems in Tabung Haji, ASB and economic initiatives for the Malays,” said Rahim, who is a part-time fisherman.
Shamsuddin Yahaya, a 45-year-old Sg Bakap fisherman, meanwhile, said he expects Perikatan Nasional to live up to its promise to assist the economy of the Malays.
“When the PH was in power, special subsidies for fishermen were reduced. Although assistance was still in place, the amount was insufficient.
“For fishermen, subsidies for oil, nets and the year-end monsoon season need to be maintained and improved.
“With a little cut, our income is badly affected because our revenue is low. To get a kilogramme of catch daily is difficult.”
During the BN administration, fishermen received a living allowance of RM300 a month before it was reduced to RM200 in the 2019 PH budget.
It was raised to RM250 in 2020.
However not every voter is happy with the fall of the PH government, more so with the defections by Mansor and Azmin.
Aziah Hamid, 53, a stall operator in Sg Acheh, is saddened by Mansor’s defection.
“We have been campaigning for this Nibong Tebal PKR branch since 1999. When Mansor was fielded as a candidate, we drew up his election programmes and campaigned for him.
“The party grassroots never expected that he would defect to be with Umno and PAS.
“He has betrayed the voters.”
Mansor has been the Nibong Tebal MP since 2013.
Prior to this, he was the state assemblyman for Penanti, a seat he won in 2009, where he went on to be appointed deputy chief minister until 2013.
Before DAP’s Goh Kheng Huat captured the seat in the 1999 general election, the Nibong Tebal seat was synonymous with the BN since it was created in 1974.
BN’s Zainal Abidin Osman briefly won it back in the 2004 election but from 2008 it had become a PKR stronghold, first won by Tan Tee Beng until 2013 and then by Mansor until his recent defection.
The majority of the voters here are Malays (48%), followed by the Chinese (35%) and Indians (17%).
This parliamentary constituency is made of three state assembly seats – Jawi, Sg Bakap and Sg Acheh. Except for the DAP-held Jawi, the rest are currently under PKR.
Sg Acheh and Sg Bakap have the highest number of Malay voters – 68% and 61% respectively.
Mansor is among the 11 MPs in the Azmin camp who took part in the so-called “Sheraton move” to form the current government.
Sunday, two weeks ago, the 11 MPs met with leaders from Bersatu, Umno and PAS over dinner at the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya, Selangor to hatch a plan to engineer the downfall of the PH government.
A week later, Muhyiddin was appointed prime minister and the new coalition he heads, Perikatan Nasional, is made up of Umno, PAS, the 11 former PKR MPs and what is left of the shattered Bersatu leadership.
They were supported by Gabungan Parti Sarawak whose 18 MPs gave them the simple majority to capture Putrajaya. – March 8, 2020.
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Bodoh punya bangsa! TH, Felda, Felcra and many more agencies that supposed to help the malays were swept clean by the perompak
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