Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia chairperson P Waythamoorthy said that there is a lesson to be learnt from the recent American presidential election.

Winning against all odds, Waythamoorthy said that Donald Trump is not even a Republican Party member holding any key positions, never served in the armed forces and never held a public office before. But, the election results showed that the Americans ultimately voted for real change. All US exit polls, poll of polls and independent political analysts were for once proven wrong.

“Trump was an outsider to politics,” he observed. “He made such a great impact in the mindset of the American people who voted for real change as they were frustrated with the establishment and the political elites.”

He said that this wind of change which swept the American society, along with the exit of Britain from the European Union, is something that Malaysian politics can learn something from. “Both these outcomes were not expected but the voice of the people were greater and went beyond the ordinary and we Malaysians must strive to do the same if the Umno-BN hegemony is to be dismantled.

“We must tap into the hearts and mindset of all Malaysians irrespective of race or religion.”

Waythamoorthy said that although in the past during the last general election, Hindraf had supported BN, the movement is prepared to apologise on this previously and move on with the Pakatan Harapan.

“We admit that we made an honest error in the genuinely mistaken belief that the plight of the poor and underclass Indians which represents 45 percent of the Indian Malaysian electorate would be solved with the written undertaking in the form of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) given by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who has proven to be a man no ordinary Malaysian can any longer trust,” he said in a statement dated Nov 9.

This statement follows his earlier declaration two weeks ago that Hindraf would give its unconditional support to Pakatan Harapan and agreed to campaign and ensure the victory of the opposition forces.

However Waythamoorthy urged Pakatan Harapan to seriously engage the remaining opposition political forces including Hindraf, Bersatu, PAS, Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM), and the many other Borneo-based political parties to form a new and comprehensive team, which not only will take on the Umno-BN but would go to “ground zero” to change the mindset of the traditional BN voters.

“The early postal voters comprising mainly the police and Armed Forces and the more than 1 million civil servants must be assured and encouraged to vote against BN as there is no longer any moral ground left for them to be loyal voters of the regime,” he added. “It is timely former prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had openly urged these categories of voters to shift their traditional allegiance.”

The Hindraf movement, on its part, would mobilise the ground forces to do what it takes to swing the 35 percent Indian Malaysian voters which can make a difference in at least 40 Parliament constituencies and help Pakatan gain the states of Perak and Negri Sembilan.

“All political forces have to be embraced. There should be no monopoly of political power. Each and every political party and movements which are committed to dismantling Umno-BN must be given an opportunity to tap their utmost strength without hindrance to meet the common goal to bring about true democratic change in this country,” he said.