PAS’ dialogue with Indian civil soceity groups in Penang today, which featured its president, Abdul Hadi Awang, will have no impact on Indian voters, said MIC and DAP leaders.

The opposing sides agreed that PAS, under its present leadership, would not gain Indian support in the next general election.

“It is very unlikely Indian voters will be swayed (to support PAS),” MIC president Dr S. Subramaniam said.

“I think Indian civil society groups know what PAS’ stand is and what it wants. I don’t think most of them will support the party and its agenda,” he said in Bagan Dalam after launching the Special Implementation Task Force (SITF) service centre in Butterworth this afternoon.

Hadi and PAS members met with more than 10 Indian civil society groups for a dialogue in Kepala Batas this morning. Fewer than 100 people representing the Indian groups attended the event.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy of DAP also said PAS would never gain Indian support with Hadi leading the Islamist party.

He said PAS did not respect Indians in the first place, and even its non-Muslims supporters in the Dewan Perhimpunan Penyokong PAS had no voting rights.

“This is PAS’ daydream. It has never obtained Indian support in the past nor will it get in the future. 

“At least some Indians had respect for the Tok Guru (Nik Aziz) in the past. Now, with Hadi in power, it would be impossible for Indians to support PAS,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The revered PAS spiritual leader and former Kelantan menteri besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat died in February 2015.

In Penang, PAS had only managed to win one state seat – Permatang Pasir – out of six it contested in the previous general election, when it was a member of Pakatan Rakyat. The old coalition collapsed when PAS broke ties with DAP over the hudud issue in 2015.

Meanwhile, Dr Subramaniam said MIC’s chances in Penang, where it would most likely contest the Bagan Dalam and Prai state seats, were “now better than before”.

In the 2013 general election, MIC represented Barisan Nasional in the contest for both seats but lost to DAP.

In Bagan Dalam, DAP beat BN and two independent candidates to win the seat with a 5,161-vote majority. In Prai, DAP won with a 7,959-vote majority against BN and one independent candidate.

“I think our chances are now better than before. Our figures show that.

“We are seeing better support from Indian voters, particularly, compared with before. We also see good support from the Malays. There is also a small increase in Chinese support.

“We have a good chance in Bagan Dalam, and a fighting chance in Prai,” he said.

Dr Subramaniam, however, said that it was still a challenge for MIC in opposition-controlled Penang.

“We are working hard on the ground. Despite the challenge, we will try our best,” he said.

In the next polls, Penang BN aims to strengthen its opposition line-up by gaining more support to send more representatives into the state legislative assembly.

BN, through its lynchpin party Umno, holds only 10 out of 40 state seats in Penang. MIC, MCA and Gerakan have no seats. – February 4, 2018.