Former deputy premier and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Anwar Ibrahim has a message for the voters in Pengakalan Pasir: the New Economic Policy (NEP) must be scrapped.

However, he claimed that this was not an attempt to lure Chinese votes but targeted for the Malays.

"I will explain to them why the NEP must be scrapped. Why we must introduce a national agenda for all Malaysians

"We are not going to sacrifice Malay interest, we are going to help them and as we are going to help the those deserving irrespective of race," he told reporters when met at a DeepaRaya open house at his residence in Kuala Lumpur today.

Anwar, who is scheduled to speak at Pengkalan Pasir tomorrow, said certain quarters would accuse him of trying to fish for Chinese votes.

"I'm going to address the Malays (with) that (message). Some people will accuse me of only wanting to appease the Chinese, but it's a 95 percent Malay constituency," he added.

Pengkalan Pasir has about 19,000 voters, of which 956 are Chinese.

Phantom voters

Anwar also vowed that he will exhaust all avenues to ensure that the Dec 6 by-election in Kelantan would be transparent and devoid of phantom voters.

"We are going all out to fight and expose any phantom voters. I'm going to use every single contact I have to detect any attempt to cheat," he warned.

He said the Election Commission must be transparent and accountable in order for the contest to be free and fair.

"Up until now the electoral roll had yet to be cleared. There are issues of double entries," he exclaimed.

The by-election, which will be a three-cornered fight, is seen as crucial since a victory for Barisan Nasional could pave the way for a snap state election.

At present, PAS has 23 seats while BN has 21 in the 45-seat state assembly.

BN and PAS have both announced their candidates. Former Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali who is currently partyless but still influential in the constituency, has also announced his decision to contest as an independent .

The by-election was called following the death of PAS assemblyperson Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Jaafar on Oct 31.

Meanwhile, Anwar said he will also address issues of justice and corruption when he meets the voters.

However, he refused to speculate on the outcome of the by-election, saying that he was merely there to assist in the campaign.