PAS has expressed gratitude to Chinese voters who backed Malay Pakatan Rakyat candidates in the recently concluded general election, even if it meant having to vote against a fellow Chinese.

NONE PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man ( left ) said the action of these voters proved the claim by Umno that the Chinese had rejected the Malays to be slander.

“The Chinese voters were willing to vote for Malay candidates without any narrow racial sentiments, as claimed by Umno.

“There are tens of Parliament and state assembly seats that were contested by Malay candidates against candidates from the Tiong Hua (Chinese), in mixed constituencies, which were won by the Malays, proving that Chinese voters were willing to reject candidates of their own race,” Tuan Ibrahim said in a statement today.

He said the Umno claim could also be part of efforts through the mainstream media to create a smokescreen to hide possible cheating in the election and for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to secure his position in Umno.

Umno, Tuan Ibrahim added, must cease “playing with fire” by using the results of the 13th general election to stoke flames of Chinese-versus-Malay sentiments, especially since this was not based on facts.

More Malays in parliamant due to Pakatan wins

Meanwhile, in another statement, Pahang PAS information chief Suhaimi Md Saad explained that DAP’s big win in the election did nothing to lessen the number of Malay MPs in Parliament.

In fact, Suhaimi said, the success of Pakatan’s candidates only served to increase that number by seven.

NONE He citing various examples of Malay Pakatan parliamentary and state seat candidates from PKR, DAP and PAS defeating their BN challengers, including Chinese candidates.

Among the examples given are:

  • Rafizi Ramli (PKR, right ) who won against Gary Lim (BN) in Pandan ;
  • Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAS), who won against S Murugesan (BN) in Kota Raja ;
  • Imran Hamid (PKR) who won against Kong Cho Ha (BN) in Lumut ;
  • Mohd Ariss Sabri Abdul Aziz (DAP) who won against Hoh Khai Mun (BN) in Raub ;
  • Idris Ahmad (PKR) who won against K Parthiban (BN) in Ijok ;
  • Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji (DAP) who won against Chuah Boon Seong (BN) in Mentakab ; and
  • Mohd Rashid Hasnon (PKR) who won against Wong Mun Hoe (BN) in Pantai Jerejak .

NONE As to how former Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman could to lose to DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang ( left ) in Gelang Patah , Johor, Suhaimi said Ghani himself “looked for trouble”, by choosing to contest in a Chinese-majority seat within a constituency that used to be “owned” by MCA.

To further debunk Umno’s claim that non-Malays went against Malays in the ballot box, he further cited 13 examples of seats where non-Malay BN candidates won in Malay-majority constituencies.

Among the constituencies listed in Suhaimi's statement are - Simpang Renggam (57 percent Malays), Tanjung Piai (51 percent), Batu Sapi (51 percent), Gurun (57 percent) and Kahang (74 percent).