SEREMBAN — The defeat of Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the Tanjung Piai Parliamentary by-election including the unhappiness of the people towards the government will be discussed in the Presidential Council meeting scheduled next week, said Vice President Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub.
Salahuddin, who is also Parti Amanah Negara (AMANAH) deputy president, said the meeting would conduct a post mortem about it (defeat) and subsequently draft a follow up action.
‘’I feel there is one, two major factors which PH must analyse on the result of Tanjung Piai..so, I personally am very open in accepting this loss and the one, two factors should be discussed in the Presidential Council so that the unhappiness of the people towards the government can be unravelled. Regardless, I treat this phenomena is only temporary in nature because normally there are groups who exercise their rights in the form of a protest in any by-election. I see this matter is important, so that whatever that we think is necessary for restructuring, we will do under our consensus in PH,’’ he told reporters after launching the 4th Negeri Sembilan Amanah Convention here yesterday.
Also present were Negeri Sembilan AMANAH chief and State Assembly Speaker Datuk Zulkefly Mohamad Omar and State AMANAH deputy chief and State Youth and Sports Development Committee chairman Mohamad Taufek Abd Ghani.
Salahuddin, who is also Agriculture and Agro-Based Minister, said, in addition, PH’s loss could also be because the explanation of issues and stories on the successes of the policies implemented by the government did not reach the grass roots.
‘’Many success stories did not reach (the people). For example, we succeeded in creating a government with integrity, we no longer hear of corruption cases, we can do all transparently. Maybe, its is PH’s social media strength which I feel must be boosted because most kampung people today have smart phones in hand. I feel PH did not get this technology modernisation trend to send whatever communication to the lowest level (at Tanjung Piai),’’ he said.
On Saturday, Barisan Nasional (Bn) recaptured the Tanjung Piai Parliamentary seat after its candidate Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng won the six-corner competition at the by-election in the area with a 15,086 majority.
Wee obtained 25,466 votes while PH candidate Karmaine Sardini received 10,380 votes, Gerakan candidate Wendy Subramaniam (1,707 votes), Berjasa candidate Datuk Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz (850) and independents Dr Ang Chuan Lock (380) and Faridah Aryani Abd Ghaffar (32).
The Tanjung Piai by-election was held following the death of incumbent Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik, 42, from PH on Sept 21 due to heart complications.
Earlier, Salahuddin, when launching the convention, said what took place at the by-election was an important signal from the people for PH scrutinise and there was still room to rectify it.
He also reminded the members to take a lesson from it, strengthen integrity and work hard to be with the people.
— BERNAMA
