As the final hours of the Bukit Gantang by-election campaign approaches, Pakatan Rakyat is now going on the offensive over Barisan Nasional’s policy of teaching science and mathematics in English (PPSMI).

nizar jamaluddin ismail saffian bukit gantang by election Since Friday, the party has been distributing leaflets on the controversial issue - particularly among the Malays - and raising it during nightly ceramah rounds.

“It is a major concern to all communities, and is particularly critical for the Malay voters,” said PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad.

A coalition of Malay writers, NGOs and academics, known as Gabungan Anti-PPSMI or GMP , have also arrived in Bukit Gantang to lend weight to PAS’ campaign.

A series of public lectures and a concert highlighting the PPSMI issue have been organised, but public attendance to these functions have not been encouraging for PAS.

PKR de facto Anwar Ibrahim was the latest personality to have touched on the issue.

gantang by election 050409 anwar and nizar dialogue with voters 08 Speaking to a crowd of 300 in a small community hall in Air Kuning, Taiping today Anwar said that Umno’s insistence on pursuing PPSMI was to the detriment of the Malays.

“Umno says that we and Mohd Nizar have betrayed the Malays. But they (Umno) cannot defend the use of our language. It is they who had betrayed us,” said Anwar during the event that was billed as a dialogue with teachers.

“When I was education minister, it has never cross my mind to ask for a change in our language policy. Though I wanted all students to embrace many languages, I had never marginalised the Malay language,” he added.

Umno media and leafleting onslaught

By most accounts, PAS’ candidate Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin is still trailing in terms of Malay votes after being put on the defensive by an Umno media and leafleting onslaught.

bukit gantang by election 280309 nizar talking Umno is trying to drive the message that Mohd Nizar is a Malay traitor and DAP puppet and had committed “ derhaka (treason)” against the Perak sultan for defying an order to step down as menteri besar in February.

These issues are believed to hold sway over the rural conservative electorate, who make up nearly two-thirds of the voters in Bukit Gantang.

This assumption has left PAS leaders and Anwar fire-fighting for Mohd Nizar over the past week, defending him as the legitimate and worthy menteri besar of Perak.

Dzulkifli said the first half of the campaign has been spent fending off and clarifying the issues raised by Umno, but the PPSMI issue may affect fence-sitters.

“There are many voters still adopting the wait-and-see attitude and the PPSMI issue might just be enough to tip the balance,” he said.

Bukit Gantang is a traditional Umno stronghold until 2008, when PAS’ Roslan Shaharom won the seat by securing the majority of non-Malay votes, but winning only an estimated 45 percent of Malay votes.

Over the past three general elections, Umno has never received less than 51 percent of the Malay votes in Bukit Gantang and is expected to do better this time round.

Will PAS-DAP tie up work?

DAP leaders giving speeches at PAS ceramahs

Meanwhile, PAS appears to be taking a gamble by inviting DAP leaders to their ceramah stages with increasing frequency over the past few days.

bukit gantang by election campaigning issues 030409 On such occasions, the DAP leaders would explain to the all-Malay crowd that Mohd Nizar was their leader and that he was an incorruptible and fair menteri besar, worthy of public support.

“In the exco meeting, decisions are made by the menteri besar, 10 exco members and three ex-officios. How can Umno claim that Mohd Nizar is a DAP puppet?” explained DAP’s Pokok Assam state rep Yee to an estate crowd in Simpang Halt yesterday.

However, the Chinese-dominated DAP bears the stigma of being portrayed by Umno as being Chinese chauvinists and against Malay special rights, which may impact Malay opinion of PAS.

PAS treasurer, Dr Hatta Ramli, told Malaysiakini that the party was adopting a more open and multi-racial approach as opposed to Umno, but admits it is a gamble.

“We’re not reducing our contact with the non-Malays in this campaign, despite the risk of being labelled as being too close DAP,” he said.