PKR must do its utmost to regain its hardcore supporters as they are an integral in determining the outcome of the next general election, Rafizi Ramli said.

The party’s deputy president said in recent years, there has been a change of mindset among voters in urban and semi-urban, resulting in their not going out to vote.

He said PKR must return to its origins with the support of its hardcore followers.

“Our focus is to rebuild the support and movement to convince the people that we are a centrist party.

“Especially the middle-class and multiracial voters where their political views are undecided,” Rafizi told The Malaysian Insight.

He said currently the party has 15% hardcore supporters from the total number of voters in the country.

Rafizi said that PKR is a very centrist party where the focus is on ideas and modernisation, as the future lies with the party that will focus on the daily lives of the people.  

“If we do this then we can push the religious, racial and far-right parties to the fringe.

“They will still have supporters but a large number of fence sitters and the silent majority will focus on a centrist party.”

Rafizi said what Pakatan Harapan (PH) and PKR need to focus on is to find a way to regain the 2018 momentum, so that they can maximise the group of voters who have rejected Umno.

“Another problem we face is enticing the hardcore supporters that have traditionally supported PH.  

“The supporters from this group who have gone out to vote are low.”

The former Pandan MP said there is a difference between the hardcore supporters from Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan Nasional (PN) and PH.

“The hardcore supporters from BN and PN will definitely go out to vote, even though they don’t agree (with the party),” Rafizi said.

“Whereas PH supporters, whose backgrounds are middle class and more urban-centric, will be quick to pull their support.

“For example, some feel disappointed or disagree with the direction PH has taken, even though traditionally they were hardcore supporters.”

He said the coalition will be focusing its efforts on the hardcore groups where in GE14 it saw more than 80% of voters coming out to cast their ballot.

“At the same time, we want to focus on the 60% of voters who have rejected Umno, so that a large number of them can decide that the best coalition to save the country from Umno is PH, not PN.

“If we can get a 5-6% swing from among PN supporters, I think that’s enough to balance and counter that 40% support which Umno has.

“PH can then bring it neck and neck with 35% to 35% (Umno) within the next five months.”

Rafizi said that once they get to that stage (35% support), it will then entice the hardcore supporters to go out to vote.

So, during the last two weeks of the campaigning period, there would be a higher chance of swinging the fence sitters towards PH.

He said that compared to 10 years ago, with the help of social media, it takes a shorter time to swing voters.

“Is it impossible to do that? It is not impossible. If it’s doable, it will be an uphill task.

“It will be a challenge to get the results. We cannot be running at the same speed in the last three years. We have to sprint.

“So, in PKR, the focus is to restructure the organisation to help us sprint and double the speed.

“The challenge is whether we can increase our campaign productivity to double or triple in the next three months,” he said.

Social media to play a crucial role in GE15

Rafizi said that social media will play a big role in reaching out to voters in the digital era as GE15 is expected to come soon.

“Based on the data we have, the political information voters receive through talks (ceramah) is less than 10%.

“A big portion, about 65%, get their political information from social media.

“Social media even trumps the news portals, which make up only 20% of the source of information that people get on politics.”

He added that PKR has a better social media presence compared to DAP and Amanah.

“For example, Umno doesn’t have anyone else besides former prime minister Najib Razak. If you take him out then their whole social media presence will collapse,” he said.

“PAS has nothing that can come close to Umno or PKR, while Bersatu doesn’t have social media traction compared to PKR and Umno.

“Only Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s party, Muda, has something that is comparable.”

In 2018, history was made in the Dewan Rakyat, when PH came into power by defeating BN.

After governing the country for 22  months, PH collapsed due to the Sheraton Move.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that GE15 will be held soon.

He urged the people to work hard as if elections will be held tomorrow. – August 4, 2022.