KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — Pakatan Rakyat leaders conceded today to losing at least 60 per cent of Indian community support to Barisan Nasional in the next elections.
They admited that the “Hindraf sentiment” from pre-Election 2008 had long ran out of steam.
To many, BN’s flagging support from the Indian community in Election 2008 had now changed significantly and it was likely that at least 60 per cent of the community’s estimated 750,000 voters would choose the ruling coalition come the next general election.
The leaders also admitted to The Malaysian Insider today that the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition had gained substantial momentum in the past two years due to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s policies and 1 Malaysia platform.
Teluk Intan MP M. Manogaran said that presently, the Indian community voters were the most “confused” of all communities but were quickly returning to BN’s side due to Najib’s popularity.
He claimed that Najib’s 1 Malaysia had successfully “touched” the hearts of the community who now felt that they were finally given recognition, thus bolstering their confidence in the ruling coalition.
“You must understand the Indian mindset. I have worked with them for years when I was the Tamil Foundation chairman. They are simple folks and 1 Malaysia means a lot to them.
“Even in the advertisements, they see the faces of a Malay, a Chinese and an Indian and they think, this is great, Najib is including us,” he said when met in Parliament today.
Manogaran added that the sway of Indian voters towards the Najib Administration was also largely because the government was plying the poor families with more gifts.
“You must not confuse the Chinese with the Indians. To the poor Indian, they are so poor that every little bit counts and a single hamper or sack of rice means the world to them,” he said.
He admitted that this was where PR would fail to compete with BN’s “politics of largesse” but insisted that the opposition pact would stick to its principles of winning support without bribing voters with gifts.
“We do not want to do what the BN is doing. We want to offer meaningful representation to them and we want them to see the bigger picture, that in the long run, we will endeavour to give them even more than these small gifts,” he said.
To that end, Manogaran revealed that in view of intense speculation of snap polls next month, he would be travelling across the country to meet with grassroots leaders and members of the community.
When approached in Parliament, DAP national vice-chairman M. Kulasegaran echoed his colleague’s views and admitted that there was a significant reduction in Indian support for the PR over the past two years.
“The expectations from the community is very high and they believed that when we took over the state governments, we are supposed to address the wrongs of 53 years past.
“But what we are trying to tell them is that we cannot do this so quickly. It takes us time to fix everything,” he said.
On the flip side, BN leaders expressed confidence today when asked for their views on the status of Indian voter support for the ruling coalition.
Instead of blaming the instability in the PR pact as the reason behind the sway, the leaders said that it was Najib’s sterling performance as the nation’s Prime Minister as the major contributing factor.
MIC’s Senator Datuk Daljit Singh told The Malaysian Insider that the swing was shown clearly after several by-elections like in Bagan Pinang, Hulu Selangor and the just-concluded Galas election.
In all three by-elections, BN cruised to a win.
“I think the Indians have now realised that the party they want to work with is the MIC... we are the first partner in the BN alliance so whatever happened in the previous general election when we lost some Indian voter support, it has changed.
“The Hindraf sentiment was new then and it banked on emotions and anger, but now, years down the road, they realise that things have changed,” he said.
His MIC colleague, Datuk S. K. Devamany told The Malaysian Insider that the PM’s approach to engage all different stakeholders in the community had helped boost BN’s chances in the coming election.
“Najib has gone to the ground to address the community’s interests by introducing good policies. And even if implementation of the policies are problematic, he has decided to set up a special implementation taskforce under the Cabinet committee to look into this,” he said.
Devamany added that Najib had also employed a more direct approach to help the community by zeroing on the major problems affecting the Indians in Malaysia.
“We are looking at social problems, we are helping our youths, we are working towards total eradication of poverty, helping the single mothers, helping the school dropouts and many things.
“At least 80 per cent of the poor Indians are actually living in urban areas and we need to formulate workable solutions to help them,” he said.
He noted that monetary aid offered to Tamil schools had also helped to impress the community, who now felt that they were more recognised.
Politicians from both PR and BN also believe that opposition’s dwindling support among the Indian community was largely due to the lack of Indian representation in the component PR parties.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk T. Murugiah told The Malaysian Insider that it was due to this perception that many from the Indian community only sought aid from the MIC.
“They have little representation so they come to us in the MIC.
“Do you know, just last Tuesday, I was there in the MIC headquarters and in one day alone, 400 Indians came forward to us, seeking for help.
“You do not see them going to PR because, which party in PR represents their interests?” he said.
Manogaran also admitted that this would be one of PR’s major downfall in terms of Indian voter support and pointed again to the community’s mindset as a factor.
“They are sentimental people, and yes, it makes a difference if they can see an Indian face there as their representative,” he said.
Today is the three-year anniversary to the infamous Hindraf gathering which saw over 30,000 members of the community march into the city to protest against the unfair policies of the BN government.
However since then, the now outlawed Hindraf movement that organised the November 25, 2007 March has split up, with some leaders favouring the BN government while others either continue with PR parties or have grown disenchanted with both coalitions.
The Indian community has long been seen as a “fixed deposit” vote bank for BN but the march to the Petronas Twin Towers blew the lid on simmering frustration of being left out of development. A majority of Tamils came as labourers who worked on the rubber and oil palm estates but a change from an agrarian to an industrialised economy sidelined them to menial jobs and gangsterism.
The ISA detention of Hindraf leaders after the march was seen as a major factor that swung Indian voters to the opposition in Election 2008, denying the BN government its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament and handing four more states to the PR parties.
They admited that the “Hindraf sentiment” from pre-Election 2008 had long ran out of steam.
To many, BN’s flagging support from the Indian community in Election 2008 had now changed significantly and it was likely that at least 60 per cent of the community’s estimated 750,000 voters would choose the ruling coalition come the next general election.
The leaders also admitted to The Malaysian Insider today that the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition had gained substantial momentum in the past two years due to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s policies and 1 Malaysia platform.
Teluk Intan MP M. Manogaran said that presently, the Indian community voters were the most “confused” of all communities but were quickly returning to BN’s side due to Najib’s popularity.
He claimed that Najib’s 1 Malaysia had successfully “touched” the hearts of the community who now felt that they were finally given recognition, thus bolstering their confidence in the ruling coalition.
“You must understand the Indian mindset. I have worked with them for years when I was the Tamil Foundation chairman. They are simple folks and 1 Malaysia means a lot to them.
“Even in the advertisements, they see the faces of a Malay, a Chinese and an Indian and they think, this is great, Najib is including us,” he said when met in Parliament today.
Manogaran added that the sway of Indian voters towards the Najib Administration was also largely because the government was plying the poor families with more gifts.
“You must not confuse the Chinese with the Indians. To the poor Indian, they are so poor that every little bit counts and a single hamper or sack of rice means the world to them,” he said.
He admitted that this was where PR would fail to compete with BN’s “politics of largesse” but insisted that the opposition pact would stick to its principles of winning support without bribing voters with gifts.
“We do not want to do what the BN is doing. We want to offer meaningful representation to them and we want them to see the bigger picture, that in the long run, we will endeavour to give them even more than these small gifts,” he said.
To that end, Manogaran revealed that in view of intense speculation of snap polls next month, he would be travelling across the country to meet with grassroots leaders and members of the community.
When approached in Parliament, DAP national vice-chairman M. Kulasegaran echoed his colleague’s views and admitted that there was a significant reduction in Indian support for the PR over the past two years.
“The expectations from the community is very high and they believed that when we took over the state governments, we are supposed to address the wrongs of 53 years past.
“But what we are trying to tell them is that we cannot do this so quickly. It takes us time to fix everything,” he said.
On the flip side, BN leaders expressed confidence today when asked for their views on the status of Indian voter support for the ruling coalition.
Instead of blaming the instability in the PR pact as the reason behind the sway, the leaders said that it was Najib’s sterling performance as the nation’s Prime Minister as the major contributing factor.
MIC’s Senator Datuk Daljit Singh told The Malaysian Insider that the swing was shown clearly after several by-elections like in Bagan Pinang, Hulu Selangor and the just-concluded Galas election.
In all three by-elections, BN cruised to a win.
“I think the Indians have now realised that the party they want to work with is the MIC... we are the first partner in the BN alliance so whatever happened in the previous general election when we lost some Indian voter support, it has changed.
“The Hindraf sentiment was new then and it banked on emotions and anger, but now, years down the road, they realise that things have changed,” he said.
His MIC colleague, Datuk S. K. Devamany told The Malaysian Insider that the PM’s approach to engage all different stakeholders in the community had helped boost BN’s chances in the coming election.
“Najib has gone to the ground to address the community’s interests by introducing good policies. And even if implementation of the policies are problematic, he has decided to set up a special implementation taskforce under the Cabinet committee to look into this,” he said.
Devamany added that Najib had also employed a more direct approach to help the community by zeroing on the major problems affecting the Indians in Malaysia.
“We are looking at social problems, we are helping our youths, we are working towards total eradication of poverty, helping the single mothers, helping the school dropouts and many things.
“At least 80 per cent of the poor Indians are actually living in urban areas and we need to formulate workable solutions to help them,” he said.
He noted that monetary aid offered to Tamil schools had also helped to impress the community, who now felt that they were more recognised.
Politicians from both PR and BN also believe that opposition’s dwindling support among the Indian community was largely due to the lack of Indian representation in the component PR parties.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk T. Murugiah told The Malaysian Insider that it was due to this perception that many from the Indian community only sought aid from the MIC.
“They have little representation so they come to us in the MIC.
“Do you know, just last Tuesday, I was there in the MIC headquarters and in one day alone, 400 Indians came forward to us, seeking for help.
“You do not see them going to PR because, which party in PR represents their interests?” he said.
Manogaran also admitted that this would be one of PR’s major downfall in terms of Indian voter support and pointed again to the community’s mindset as a factor.
“They are sentimental people, and yes, it makes a difference if they can see an Indian face there as their representative,” he said.
Today is the three-year anniversary to the infamous Hindraf gathering which saw over 30,000 members of the community march into the city to protest against the unfair policies of the BN government.
However since then, the now outlawed Hindraf movement that organised the November 25, 2007 March has split up, with some leaders favouring the BN government while others either continue with PR parties or have grown disenchanted with both coalitions.
The Indian community has long been seen as a “fixed deposit” vote bank for BN but the march to the Petronas Twin Towers blew the lid on simmering frustration of being left out of development. A majority of Tamils came as labourers who worked on the rubber and oil palm estates but a change from an agrarian to an industrialised economy sidelined them to menial jobs and gangsterism.
The ISA detention of Hindraf leaders after the march was seen as a major factor that swung Indian voters to the opposition in Election 2008, denying the BN government its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament and handing four more states to the PR parties.
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