Meaningless for Gerakan to raise alarm bell in PN

The little known partner in Perikatan Nasional, Gerakan raised the alarm yesterday, calling upon big brothers Pas and Bersatu to prepare for GE16 in the wake of the two by-election defeats – Mahkota and Nenggiri.

Interestingly Gerakan president Senator Datuk Dr Dominic Lau also approached the subject of winning over non-Malay non-Muslim voters.

“Many in the non-Muslim community are dissatisfied with the unity government, but this does not mean they will automatically vote for PN.

“PN still needs to work hard to gain the support of the non-Muslim community,” he said.

Any political observer worth his or her salt would tell that non-Malay parties of PN are third class passengers.

Gerakan holds the Kulim state seat in Kedah, MIPP has none.

As for the non-Malay non-Muslim members of Bersatu associate wing and Pas Supporters Congress (DHPP), they do not have representation in the Dewan Rakyat and state assemblies.

There are hardly seats penetrable for both Gerakan and MIPP.

PN in Dewan Rakyat has been doing an excellent job by ignoring the non-Malay, non-Muslim vote bank.

Why would they bother?

Tan Sri Hadi Awang (Marang) spews venom towards non-Malay, non-Muslim population. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh) maintains a pin drop silence.

The recent Pas AGM saw delegates churning out ludicrous ideas to win over the non-Malay, non-Muslim vote bank.

Regardless of the Green Wave, the non-Malay, non-Muslim votes would not go to PN because the Bersatu Associate Wing and the DHPP along with Gerakan and MIPP has not done anything significant for the community that they seek to represent.

As for Lau’s claim that the non-Muslims are dissatisfied with the unity government, it is not proven to be so.

In fact, political analyst Dr James Chin of Sunway University who spoke to Harapan Daily recently about the low turnout of non-Malays in Mahkota remarked: “The low voter turnout would not repeat in a general election. The Chinese are more afraid of Pas.”

And this would be by extension, Pas’ allies in PN.

Hence it is meaningless for Lau to raise the alarm bell.