DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has urged the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition to work towards attracting Malaysians as a whole to its common goals rather than maintain the tried-and-tested strategy of seeking support through race-based campaign tactics.

teoh beng hock memorial night 160710 kit siang Lim said such a strategy must eventually be replaced by one that attracted all Malaysians to Pakatan’s “common policy programme”.

Failure to do so would lead to the coalition being unable to affect real “change” .

“If Pakatan Rakyat is to succeed in its campaign to effect political changes, it is the responsibility of all the three component parties to ensure that we can continue to get increasing support from all the communities for the Pakatan common policy programme for justice, freedom, democracy and change – whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli,” said the veteran politician in a statement today.

Lim ( above ), who is Ipoh Timor Member of Parliament, also said Pakatan should “move on” and seek support from all Malaysians for political change.

Having said this, Kit Siang refuted assertions by BN leaders that component party MCA had garnered half of all Chinese votes in last Sunday’s poll exercise.

Citing an analysis published today in Malaysiakini , Lim argued that BN’s Chinese votes in the by-election had fallen from 32 percent in 2008 to 32 percent.

He conceded, however, that BN had increased its Malay votes in Tenang from 80 percent in 2008 to 86 percent in the by-election, while its Indian votes in Tenang increased from 74 percent in 2008 to 86 percent.

Even so, he added, BN’s 2008 majority of 2,492 would have been slashed this time around if there were less discrimination committed by government agencies ferrying voters to polling stations.

Lim was referring to claims that Umno focused its efforts to help ferry voters from its stronghold in the three Felda settlements in the Tenang, while assistance for PAS-areas were “ selective and discriminatory ”.

NONE “It was most regrettable that there was no walking the talk of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” when action was called for by the government agencies to provide reliefs in natural and man-made disasters like the big floods on the by-election polling day and after.

Another DAP leader, Senator Ramakrishnan ( left ), denied that the result of the Tenang by-election proved Indian support had eroded away from Pakatan.

Citing a litany of woes that had occurred in Tenang, Ramakrishnan said the results of the by-election given the conditions and circumstances surrounding the poll cannot be said to reflect “the peoples' choice and preferences”.

Aggravating the situation caused by the heavy rain and floodwaters, said Ramakrishnan, was the fact that government agencies such as the Election Commission, the BN-led Johore government, army and police were ill-prepared for such conditions.

For these reasons, many were “robbed” of the opportunity to cast their votes, said Ramakrishnan, adding: “Indian votes are changing along with the others”.

“Therefore, the results of Tenang by election under such demanding conditions do not reflect the peoples' choice and preferences.

“Under such demanding conditions adhering to strict neutrality and fairness is anybody's guess,” said Ramakrishnan.