PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said she is proud of the hard work put in by Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) candidates during the six state elections held over the weekend.
The former Permatang Pauh MP said while the dynamics of vote transfers between both coalitions needed improvement, the bridge has been successfully built.
“Every election result is sure to produce an impact followed by mixed feelings; surprise, gratitude, sadness, but in the end, it is always accompanied by a process of reflection and acceptance,” she remarked.
“Even so, we need to continue our efforts and learn from the latest episode,” she added while thanking volunteers and voters for supporting the PH-BN unity coalition.
In addition to confronting and fighting the politics of extremism and corruption that continue to hamper efforts to implement the reform agenda, she said the unity government must be proactive in ensuring that the economy improves for the people and that the government can inspire to meet the needs of young people and women.
“We won in three states and became the opposition (except in Terengganu) in the other two states. Clearly, the time interval of a few months, combined with current macroeconomic and psychological factors, was not enough time to erode the existing ‘Green Wave’ sentiment,” she noted in an Instagram post yesterday (Aug 13).
Wrong to resist holding state polls with GE15
“The truth is PAS managed to get to the hearts of our youth; and I admit that I was wrong because I did not want the state elections to be held together with the general election. Doing both together can generate the necessary momentum to achieve the maximum turnout.”
Nurul Izzah also added that the campaigning for the state polls had also taken the government’s time from focusing on its newly-launched initiatives recently.
“Focus was taken away from the Civil Economy planning implementation process; National Energy Transition Plan; progressive wage initiative and National Industrial Planning which are important in developing the economy.
“Furthermore, I joined the chorus of insistence that the government’s communication agency be strengthened so that the initiatives, successes and noble efforts of the unity government reach the people directly,” she said.
She underlined that they were still caught in the pandemic mindset, with voters continually focused on the economic emergency and the cost of living, despite data showing that economic inflation had dropped.
“Don’t forget, the battle will come later. So, the quest to win hearts and listen to the people continues!” she added.
The turnout for the six state elections was over 70% in four states; Kedah, Selangor, Penang and Terengganu. Negri Sembilan recorded 68% while Kelantan was the lowest at a mere 60%.
The voter turnout for last Saturday’s state elections was lower compared with 74.04% during 15th General Election (GE15) last year.
PH-BN unity coalition managed to retain Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Penang at the polls, though Perikatan Nasional (PN) made some inroads in these states.
Meanwhile, PN made a clean sweep of Terengganu and was close to doing the same in Kedah and Kelantan. – Aug 14, 2023
Main pic credit: The Star
