The Penang Malay Congress (PMC) has urged PKR to give serious consideration to its demand for at least six seats for DAP’s Malay candidates in the 13th general election.

The six entails five state and one parliamentary seat, especially in mixed constituencies.

PMC president Rahmad Isahak said the NGO was merely acting in a “neutral, normal and professional” manner when suggesting that DAP Malay candidates be given a chance to contest in the coming polls.

Mixed seats are usually allocated to PKR and the PMC is aware that the proposal may irk the party’s leaders.

Rahmad added that perhaps PKR leaders would feel uneasy to hear PMC’s views on the matter but the decision lies within the ambit of the state Pakatan Rakyat liaison committee which is chaired by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The NGO, which claims to represent the voices of 640,000 Malays in Penang, vowed to continue pressing for more Malay candidates from DAP, saying it was a “rational and reasonable” request as all of the party’s MPs and state reps are Chinese and Indians.

“How the matter is worked out is not our problem. We are more focused on the question of the political strength of the Malay community within the state no matter who is the state government,” he said in Penang today.

“We hope no one feels hurt with our demands, which were raised due to a very critical need for Malays to assume top leadership within the state,” he added.

“Without the Malays having political strength, it would be difficult to talk about the community’s soci0-eonomic situation,” he stressed.

Currently, there are only two Malay state executive council members from PKR - Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman and Batu Maung MP Abdul Malik Abul Kassim.

zulkifli mohd noor pc 260811 02 The PMC’s demands were raised by state DAP central committee member Zulkifli Mohd Noor ( left ) who said the party had no choice but to ask PKR to sacrifice some of its seats, especially those in mixed constituencies.

He made the comment with the view that the DAP had more winnable candidates as he feared  that Pakatan may be left without any Malay leaders if the duo failed to retain their seats.

State PKR information chief Johari Kassim retorted by asking the DAP to allow its Malay candidates to contest in its existing 19 seats, while the party’s chief Karpal Singh denied that it was eyeing its ally’s constituencies.

PAS recently joined the fray, with state deputy commissioner Mujahid Yusof Rawa saying that the party was willing to negotiate and arrive at the best decision to allow DAP Malay candidates to contest in the coming election.

Concern over Malay leadership within Pakatan

Rahmad said although Zulkifli’s statement bordered more on his personal opinion, he was genuinely concerned over Malay political leadership within Pakatan if the coalition continues to rule Penang.

He added that he was confident that Zulkifli, a Penang Municipal councillor, would raise the matter with the DAP leadership.

He welcomed Zulkifli’s views as it had managed to “open the eyes of the community” to the fact that there were indeed Malay leaders in DAP who were ignored by the media prior to the controversy.

He added that Zulkifli was also well-versed with the party’s history where in the past, the DAP had handed over 13 of its seats, contested mostly by Malay leaders, to the PKR.

“This may have made some PKR leaders feel threatened but whether DAP manages to reclaim the seats depends on the state Pakatan leadership,” he said.

Rahmad praised PAS for its willingness to consider giving its seats to DAP Malay candidates although the party has limited seats.

“PAS still thinks about the Malay political leaderhip and we hope PKR would also think the same way,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rahmad said the PMC understood why Umno kept mum when the issue of DAP Malay leaders asking for seats in Penang was publicised recently.

He added that they were aware that the political strength of the Malays remains a priority.

“Although Umno is still relevant in Penang, they are unable to form the government due to the poor performance of their allies in Barisan Nasional,” he said.

“Therefore their hopes of holding at least four state executive council member seats, including that of the deputy chief minister, has been dashed,” he added.

In such a political scenario, Rahmad advised Umno to help the Malays by seeking more aid from the federal government to uplift the condition of the community in Penang before the next polls.