Amanah Most Affected by Racial Politics – Adly Zahari

BUKIT MERTAJAM: The National Trust Party (Amanah) is described as the party most affected by the narrative of racial‑tinged politics played during yesterday’s Negeri Sembilan State Election (PRN).

Its Vice‑President, Adly Zahari, said that this is because Amanah is a political party whose majority of members are Malays and carries the message of Islam within Pakatan Harapan (PH).

“So, certainly when we see the wave of racial politics, especially those related to the Malays, the one most affected is Amanah.

“Hence, that is why we could not defend the seat (Klawang State Legislative Assembly or DUN) in Negeri Sembilan even though we managed to defend our seat in Johor (Simpang Jeram DUN) previously.

“But, I think that, even though Amanah is affected, yes, Amanah will continue to carry the message for us to strengthen Pakatan Harapan and to further increase our efforts after this,” he told reporters after officiating the Penang Amanah Convention here today.

Also present at the convention were Penang PH Chairman, Chow Kon Yeow; Amanah Secretary‑General who is also Penang Amanah Chairman, Muhammad Faiz Fadzil; and Penang PKR State Leadership Council (MPN) Deputy Chairman, Goh Choon Aik.

Elaborating further, Adly acknowledged that racial politics can indeed affect votes, but believes that such an approach cannot last long because the people will eventually reassess what the government has done for their benefit.

“That is why for us, Pakatan Harapan, the politics of values remains the core. At the same time, we will also look at many other matters through the ‘post‑mortem’ of the recent PRN for us to improve,” he said.

In a related development, Adly said that Amanah may change its strategy to garner people’s votes in the Melaka PRN which is expected to take place later this year.

He, who is also a former Chief Minister of Melaka, said however that the strategy or approach will be discussed in a PH meeting first before it is decided later.

“Some parties felt that we were too aggressive (during campaigning in the PRN) while others said that we were too defensive, yes.

“But for us, when we bring the politics of values, we indeed want to invite Malaysians to ensure that their choice is based on values, whether integrity, our capability (the PH government) in managing the state and country, and based on economic facts,” he said.

Utusan Malaysia