‘Non-Malays support us, Umno will end soon’

Newly elected deputy president says that Chinese and Indians have accepted PAS' struggles and the new-line will try to expand its influence.

GOMBAK: Newly elected PAS deputy president, Mohamad Sabu said the Indian and Chinese communities have moved away from Umno and they have now accepted the struggles of PAS.

He also said that the new-line up of the Islamic party’s leadership will work harder in order to secure more non-Malay votes in the coming general election.

“I remember (party spiritual leader) Nik Aziz Nik Mat once said that Umno is not strong on its own. Umno’s strength comes from its (non-Malay) component parties, MCA and MIC. They are Umno’s crutches,” said Mohamad who is better known as Mat Sabu.

“The Chinese and the Indians have accepted the message of PAS. Umno will end soon!” he told delegates in his winding-up speech on the last day of the party’s 57th muktamar at Taman Melewar here.

He added that votes from PAS members alone will not be sufficient to put the party in Putrajaya. Hence the new line will take efforts to attain votes from the others.

“Party votes itself is not enough. We need the mandate and support of the public. This we will do. We will attain more (non-party member) votes from the Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and other communities,” he stressed.

The coming general election has been a top agenda in the debates and discussions of the delegates and also in the speeches of the top party leaders in this year’s muktamar.

Mat Sabu continued with this message by cracking a joke about how he frequents Putrajaya so often nowadays, “kerana kita mesti tau mana pintu masuk (just to find where the main entrance is).”

Passive Malays

The message of widening the party’s appeal was also stressed by vice-president Mahfuz Omar who said that PAS had to win the “hearts and minds” of all voters.

“We must displace Umno from the hearts and minds of rakyat to go to Putrajaya. We must bring with us the mandate of people (when we get to Putrajaya). We cannot do that with our political power alone,” he said in his short speech.

Earlier, Mat Sabu also highlighted the difference of political culture of the races, labeling the Malays a little “passive”.

“Different races differ from issues that are sensitive and with their reactions,” he said.

He drew a comparison of reactions from the Chinese community to Teoh Beng Hock’s death and the Malay community’s reaction to Ahmad Sarbaini’s death. Both Teoh (2009) and Ahmad Sarbaini (2011) were found dead at different Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)’s buildings.

“The response to Sarbaini’s death is mostly, ‘what can we do’…they don’t view it as an important issue. The response from the Malays are more passive when compared to the Tiong Hua (Chinese) group,” he said.

The three day-long PAS muktamar ended today.