GEORGE TOWN: As the dust settles on PKR’s defeat in the Hulu Selangor by-election on Sunday, a disappointed senior MP has called on Pakatan Rakyat to stop blaming Barisan Nasional’s money politics.
Accusing Pakatan of still being in denial, DAP vice-chairman M Kulasegaran said the party must return to the drawing board and do a no-holds-barred detailed review of the devastating loss.
“It’s more than vote-buying.
“There are other pressing issues that influenced the election result.
‘It’s a timely wake-up call,” said the two-term Ipoh Barat MP.
In the by-election, electoral debutant P Kamalanathan of BN obtained 24,997 votes to score a 1,725-margin victory against PKR heavyweight Zaid Ibrahim, who polled 23,272.
Kulasegaran pointedly noted that Pakatan Rakyat lost despite fielding its best candidate against an MIC novice.
Secondly, he said, Pakatan lost the seat in a state that the coalition rules.
He said he was surprised and disappointed with Zaid’s defeat because it’s so close to Kuala Lumpur.
“It’s frightening to learn we lost in a mixed constituency. Something is amiss here… to lose in our own den?
“All Pakatan leaders and elected representatives must reflect on where and what went wrong.
“We must take stock urgently,” Kulasegaran told FMT.
Why did Indians drift away?
He said Pakatan leadership must find out why Indian and Malay voters, who voted for the coalition in the last general election, had drifted away this time.
He said Pakatan’s post-mortem must probe on whether the Indian voters have ditched Pakatan for good or were merely warming up with BN to issue a stern warning to Pakatan.
“Many Indians felt that Pakatan had failed to live up to its expectations and aspirations.
“Although Pakatan state governments have limitations, nonetheless have they really delivered within their limits for Indians?
“Pakatan must acknowledge that it has to work harder and be more transparent to recapture the Indian and Malay votes, especially the working-class group,” he said.
On a positive note, however, Kulasegaran said all was not lost for Pakatan.
He said although the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow, nonetheless it could be a blessing in disguise for it to happen now than during the 13th general election.
“We can always re-organise, re-invent and re-strategise our political approach and policies to turn around the defeat into triumph."
Recalling PKR’s by-election defeat in Ijok in April, 2007, he said a year later, Pakatan scored an unprecedented electoral success in the general election.
“Who knows... Hulu Selangor could just turn out to be another Ijok,” said the diminutive MP.
28/04/10
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