GEORGE TOWN: DAP must field credible Malay candidates in the upcoming 13th general election if it wants to appease the Malays, Penang Malay Congress president Rahmad Isahak(Pic).
He said the selection of such candidates in Penang is important because the electoral battle ahead is likely to be a tough fight between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.
Rahmad advised the DAP against picking candidates favoured by the leadership only, but who lack rapport with the people.
“Remember in Penang, one cannot only be well liked by one community. It is a state with a diverse ethnic base, so any candidate must be well received by all,” he said in an interview.
DAP is seen as a Chinese-centric party because its membership is predominantly of one race and the party is mostly championing Chinese issues.
Therefore, political observers said it will be an achievement if its Malay candidates can win some seats in Penang.
The only Malay DAP candidate to ever win was the late Ahmad Nor, a labour unionist who won in the Bayan Baru parliamentary seat in 1990.
Rahmad said the selection of candidates in Penang is important because the Malay ground has become restless, owing to the lack of leadership from PKR and PAS, which are supposed to be looking after the community’s interests.
Therefore, he said it is DAP’s task to impress upon the Malays that their interests will be well addressed after the 13th general election, should Pakatan Rakyat retain the state.
According to Rahmad, the issues that are unsettling the Malays are the lack of affordable housing, quality jobs, traffic congestion as well as the high cost of living.
Thus, Malay candidates selected by DAP to contest in Penang will be viewed favourably if they are willing to fight for such issues, he said.
It is learnt that the state DAP has interviewed five possible Malay candidates; among them were Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s political secretary Zairil Khir Johari, academician Senator Dr Ariffin Omar and DAP veteran Zulkifli Mohd Noor.
However, Penang DAP under the tutelage of Tanjung MP Chow Kon Yeow is believed to likely only recommend two seats for the Malay candidates here.
This is because it is difficult to find them seats to contest as most of the 19 state seats allocated to DAP, have high Chinese voter composition.
At the parliamentary level, the four seats held by the DAP here also have a strong Chinese base.
Rahmad reminded candidates that their job is to serve the voters, so they must have long-term commitments to the electorate.
