KUALA LUMPUR – Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal believes Perikatan Nasional (PN) can dispel its “Islamic and Malay-centric” image among non-Muslim voters through its policies in states under its administration.
Wan Fayhsal, who is also the MP for Machang, acknowledged that some past narratives from PN members and leaders may have been offensive to non-Muslims.
He added that the coalition’s top leadership is working to rectify these issues to prevent future occurrences.
“I have said this many times: PN is not a far-right xenophobic nationalist coalition. Yes, sometimes we have narratives that may offend non-Malays and non-Muslims, and I believe these issues are being addressed at the leadership level of the coalition.
“This is to ensure these narratives are not repeated, so we can attract more voters from non-Malay and non-Muslim communities. By doing this, they can get to know us better, and Insya-Allah, in the next general elections, they will support us so we can be in power back to Putrajaya.”
“The work is ongoing, and we have already started at the leadership level of PAS and Bersatu.”
“Bersatu has announced that there will be no competition, we are asking for a competition in the form of a discussion, a compromise between the top five in the party’s leadership.
“At PAS, figures like Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar have been exemplifying a modern, moderate approach that was not seen before. PAS is now proving to Malaysians that it’s moving to a moderate position.”
“But I think it’s not enough; at the end of the day, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Hence, I see that we need to prove it through policies. And the policies can be evaluated and proven through the states we are ruling.
“If there are progressive policies that are moderate and consider the importance and rights of non-Muslims in business, culture and religion, I can guarantee that we can win the hearts of voters from states unfamiliar with our administration,” Wan Fayhsal said during an appearance on Scoop’s Trick Lama podcast recently.
The podcast session was hosted by Big Boom Media Group chief executive officer Datuk Zainul Arifin, group executive director Datuk Ahirudin Attan and group editor-in-chief Terence Fernandez.
The state election held in six states last year saw Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu remain under PN control, with PAS winning a supermajority in these states.
PN is also in power in Perlis, having won 14 out of 15 seats in the 2022 general election. Overall, PN secured 74 out of the 222 parliamentary seats contested in 2022.
Wan Fayhsal also revealed that PN aims to create more awareness among voters in the southern peninsular states about the progressiveness under PN’s administration.
“One of our strategies before the next general election is to bring Chinese and Indian voters from Selangor, Johor and Melaka to visit the state of Kelantan.
“Let them see for themselves in Kuala Krai how the Chinese and Indians live together, eat budu, and how they can live like normal people by drinking alcohol and having bak kut teh without any issues.
“On top of that, there are vernacular schools in my constituency, Machang, and let the voters witness how the people from the Chinese community perform dikir barat. These are some of the things that we cannot find in other states in our country,” Wan Fayhsal added.
The PN coalition currently comprises three component parties: Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan, with the coalition’s chairman being former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. – July 27, 2024