PSM’s policies appealing, but voters have other priorities

SEMENYIH POLLS | Parked outside a shop in Semenyih are a few vehicles adorned with flags and stickers indicating that this was Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s campaign headquarters in an otherwise nondescript property.

The party’s election operational centre in Semenyih by-election is upstairs. PSM started its campaign with the declaration of candidate’s assets.

PSM’s by-election candidate Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul took an oath to clear of racial politics and disclosed his assets - RM1,000 in savings.

He also announced his readiness for the upcoming, albeit now cancelled, public debate with other candidates.

Nik Aziz, 25, is a part-time masseuse and fervent socialist. His stood on a platform for affordable housing, healthcare, improving public transport, removal of highway toll charges and local elections.

Unlike Pakatan Harapan and BN, PSM does not believe in pomp and ceremony or roping in VIPs to spice up its campaign.

Instead, PSM believes that talking policy is the best strategy and hence its “one issue a day” approach.

So far, the party has attacked the federal government’s new health insurance scheme for the lower income group and inability to rein in on highway tolls.

It also held a press conference on the high cost of housing and criticised Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's ignorance of most Malaysians’ ability to buy a house.

Disconnect with voters?

To test the efficacy of PSM’s message, Malaysiakini interviewed several voters at a night market in Bandar Sri Putra when party leader Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj went on the hustings.

Jeyakumar, who is a practising doctor and PSM’s only member who was elected to Parliament, took pains to criticise Putrajaya’s new health insurance scheme and explained how only the appointed insurance company, rather than the public, stood to benefit.

Most of the market goers politely took the campaign flyers but very few would stay back to listen.

In Semenyih, PSM does not suffer from unfamiliarity. Most voters approached by Malaysiakini at the market were aware that PSM’s S Arutchelvan stood for elections in Semenyih several times before.

PSM does acknowledge this as Nik Aziz’s campaign posters feature Arutchelvan’s photograph prominently.

A night market noodle seller, who wished to be known only as Zalilah, told Malaysiakini that she knew who Arutchelvan was, but PSM’s main topic for the night, was not appealing to her.

“Semenyih is very near to Kajang. There are many clinics there. I don’t think healthcare facilities is the issue.

“The main problem we are facing is the rising cost of living. The prices of goods are rising all the time. As a street vender, we have to spend more to buy ingredients,” she said.

A voter, who wished to be known only as Fareez, 32, told Malaysiakini that whether or not PSM’s candidate declare his assets before the election would not influence how he will vote.

Fareez described himself as an Umno supporter who voted against the party at the last general election because he didn’t like its former leader Najib Abdul Razak.

“Najib has now been charged in court. Umno has been cleansed,” he said, adding that he will now vote for the BN candidate, who is a local Umno branch leader.

Malaysiakini also interviewed some random shoppers to test if they agree that the issues highlighted by PSM are important to the locals.

A voter, who wished to be known only as Hisham, 48, said he could relate with what PSM had to say about housing being unaffordable, but that’s not enough a reason for him to vote for the party.

Hisham won’t say who he is voting for, but believed that the new government should be given more time to prove itself.

Personalities do matter

As part of the campaign events, the party has been holding press conferences to remind voters of its past achievements, including helping former estate workers in Semenyih obtain free houses as compensation.

Voter A Jeya, 66, said he agreed with many policy positions taken by PSM and was aware of Arutchelvan’s activism involving former estate workers.

However, for Jeya, the personalities involved in the election outweigh any policy positions held by candidates.

To him, voting for the Harapan candidate meant supporting Mahathir and he pledged to do just that.

“I am going to vote for Mahathir because he is very old now and he is a very experienced leader who can lead our country well,” said Jeya, who conceded that he didn’t know the name of the Harapan candidate.

PSM sees opportunity

For Jeya, he believed that PSM does have a following among Indian voters in the area after years of helping local estate workers.

According to voting records, PSM fared best in voting districts with a substantial Indian voter base such as in Bandar Rinching Seksyen 1 to 4, Semenyih Indah and Tarun.

However, the Indian community constitutes only 14 percent of the voters in Semenyih. Even then, in the above three voting districts, the share of PSM votes did not exceed 10 percent.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Jeyakumar was realistic about PSM’s chances in the by-election and does not expect his party to win.

However, participating in the campaign was a chance for the party to share its socialist ideals and change mindsets on policy issues such as health, education, housing, wages, pensions, public transport and more.

Polling will take place on March 2. Apart from Nik Aziz, the three other candidates are BN's Zakaria Hanafi, Harapan's Muhammad Aiman Zainali and independent Kuan Chee Heng.

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