COMMENT Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had made the capture of Selangor state his prime objective in the 13th general election. In fact, he made the infamous clarion call last year to “take Selangor back at all costs” and even appointed himself as the director of elections for the BN in the state, the first time that a sitting prime minister has been appointed to lead a state election machinery.

 

NONE Despite the massive onslaught by BN, the outcome of the GE13 in Selangor has proven Najib’s ( right ) utter and complete failure in making any in roads in the state. Not only did Najib not manage to recapture Selangor, BN lost an additional eight seats, allowing Pakatan Rakyat to capture 44 seats and leaving BN with only 12.

 

If not for the self-inflicted damage of a three-corner fight between PAS and PKR in Kota Damansara , as well as another involving PSM and PKR in Semenyih , Pakatan Rakyat would have comfortably captured another two state seats, leaving BN with only 10. In both these seats, the combined PKR-PAS and PKR-PSM votes overwhelm the votes obtained by BN by 5,783 and 1,423 votes respectively.

 

The resounding victory by Pakatan Rakyat is a ringing endorsement by the people of Selangor to our five years in power since 2008 where the state government has rolled out massive amounts of people-centric programmes via 'Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor' as well as proving our competence in a clean and transparent state administration.

 

Strong increase in Malay support

 

What is the sweetest bit of our victory in Selangor is the massive increase in Malay support for the coalition, which has allowed us to significantly increase our seats in the semi-rural belt of Selangor.

PAS has successfully captured the Malay majority seats (percentage of Malays in brackets) of Sabak (79%), Morib (59%), Paya Jaras (57%), Dusun Tua (53%), Tanjong Sepat (52%) and Taman Templar (51%). This achievement was in spite of the relentless attacks by Umno over the issues of race, religion and royalty on Pakatan Rakyat in the Malay heartlands.

 

DAP received multi-racial support

 

Similarly, for DAP, it would not have been possible for us to capture the seats we lost in 2008 - Kuala Kubu Bahru and Sungai Pelek - without increased support from both the Malays and Indians. In these two seats, the Malay and Indian population comprises of 33% and 21%, 45% and 21% respectively.

The increased in support from the Malay and Indian community has allowed DAP to win both seats with majorities of 1,702 (2008: -448) and 1,972 (2008: -1,572) respectively.

 

Even in Teluk Datuk - in which Malays and Indians form 29% and 20% respectively - where DAP’s candidate won by only a marginal 698 votes, we have successfully increased our majority to 5,391 votes, marking a significant increase in both Malay and Indian support.

 

Large increase in popular support for Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor

 

In terms of popular support, Pakatan Rakyat Selangor enjoyed a 4% increase in popular votes from 55.4% in 2008 to 59.4% in 2013, confirming that we have won over our doubters in 2008 with our policies and administration. This result also cements permanence of Pakatan Rakyat Selangor as a highly credible political coalition, and not a ‘one-hit wonder’.

 

Selangorians are discerning

 

The only blot in Pakatan Rakyat’s Selangor results was the loss of Bukit Melawati by 806 votes, reversing the 297-vote majority win in 2008 by PKR. Under such marginal circumstances, the coalition’s past performance in the constituency may have affected the outcome of the vote.

 

However, this outcome and the narrow losses in several other state and parliamentary seats in Selangor proves that continued clean and transparent policies, and their effective implementation will enable us to win even more seats in the future.

 

Conclusion

 

The thumping endorsement from the rakyat for the Pakatan Rakyat state government is a clear-cut thumbing of the nose at Najib’s leadership of the country and the state. It is also a rejection by the people of Selangor of all races and religion, of BN’s divisive politics of race, religion and royalty.

 

While Pakatan Rakyat campaigned on a platform based on our track record and our administrative credentials in contrast to BN, BN’s only target of attack was the attempt to sow discord between races and religions.

 

NONE The contrast in campaign messages and styles can be perfectly encapsulated by the victory of a moderate Khalid Samad from PAS thrashing BN’s Zulkifli Noordin ( right ), the Perkasa vice-president who is universally condemned as a racist and bigot. In fact, we believed that Zulkifli’s candidature has played a crucial role in ensuring Pakatan Rakyat’s victories in Selangor with much larger majorities.

 

The challenge for Pakatan Rakyat Selangor in the coming five years will be to enable Malaysians outside of Selangor - especially in BN bastions - to recognise our achievements and to realise that a vote for Pakatan Rakyat will be a step forward for them, and for their children in the next general election.

TONY PUA is Selangor DAP deputy chairperson.