PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) is banking on youth support to become the next Selangor government, Taman Medan assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin said.

With the number of young voters expected to increase over the next few years, the state PN liaison secretary hopes young people will give PN a chance to govern the country’s richest state.

“We are confident (of winning Selangor) with the increasing number of young voters, especially the 18-year-olds.

“The next four to five years will see another increase of young voters, who will be well informed, well exposed to social media.

“I disagree with certain politicians labelling young voters as those who vote based on sentiment.

“The moment we allow 18-year-olds to vote, it is with the confidence that they are able to make their own decision and to choose,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

In the August six-state elections, which resulted in a status quo, PN made major inroads in Selangor, denying the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) unity pact its desired two-thirds majority.

PN won 22 seats in Selangor, with Afif winning the Taman Medan seat by a mere 30 votes.

Afif said the PH-BN coalition failed to address concerns of youngsters, allowing PN to pose as the better alternative.

“If they (PH-BN) fail to capture young voters, then it is not the failure of the young people, but (the failure of) your (coalition).

“To address (youth) issues, we (PN) focus on economic, education and job opportunities.

“These are issues people are facing every day and as much as PH is trying to portray that PN only talks about race and religion, that campaign backfired to a certain degree,” Afif, a former PKR member, said.

Before the state polls, a survey by independent pollster Ilham Centre found young voters preferred PN over PH.

Afif said non-Malay voters were beginning to favour PN as they realise the coalition was not racist.

He said sooner or later, non-Malays’ support for PN would grow.

“Most non-Malay voters don’t believe it when PH says PN is a racist bunch.

“As we continue to explain to them, sooner or later non-Malay voters will realise PN is only focusing on putting the nation’s interests first,” he said.

Afif said the appointment of Azmin Ali as Selangor opposition leader and the formation of a shadow executive council were laying the groundwork for PN to take over as state government.

“We are not only trying to be a good opposition in Selangor but also preparing ourselves to be the government in waiting.

“We have to continue to be the voice of the people and as long as the current PH administration continues with their status quo approach towards developing the state, I believe we will have a better chance in the next elections to win Selangor,” he said.

Making Selangor a ‘superstate’

Afif said PN would focus on policy-based proposals to make Selangor a “superstate”.

He said under Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari’s leadership, Selangor has not reached its full potential.

Amirudin’s government was lacking in terms of local council services and digitalisation needed to transform Selangor into a smart state, he said.

He said while accessibility to infrastructure and technology is the highest in Selangor, implementing local infrastructure to support these developments was expensive.

“Telecommunication and technology providers have lamented that Selangor was one of the most expensive states in which to introduce this kind of initiative to the benefit of the public.”

Afif said comparing Selangor with Kelantan, Terengganu or Kedah is not the way forward, and suggested comparing it with Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong or cities in Japan.

“The current administration has failed to understand this. As the opposition, we should push them to change their approach,” he said. – October 5, 2023.