A youth non-governmental organisation today called on Indian voters in Permatang Pauh to reject Barisan Nasional (BN) and choose opposition stalwart Anwar Ibrahim instead in order to strengthen the country’s parliamentary democratic system.

dap pkr pc in permatang pauh by election 240808 03 In making the call, Concern Youth Movement (CYM) interim president G Manivannan urged Indians, who make six percent of Permatang Pauh constituents, not to be taken in by recent BN overtures to woo their votes.

Among the overtures made by BN to please the Indian Malaysian community, he said, was to set up a special cabinet committee, marginally increasing education opportunities in public tertiary institutions, providing vocational and skills training for estate population, ad-hoc financial aids to Tamil primary schools and licences to metal scrap dealers.

'People's prime minister'

He pointed out that the function of the special cabinet committee was yet to be spelt out by the government.

"All these cosmetic gestures are actually basic rights that should be given permanently not on an ad-hoc basis to Indians.

"Once again the BN government has failed to address the marginalised issues of Indians in all areas," he told reporters at the DAP election base for the Permatang Pauh by-election.

For starters, he said, BN should have released the five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) held under the Internal Security Act and address all pressing issues raised by the movement.

He added that giving out goodies during election time would not make up for substantial policy implementation demanded by all Indians in the country.

permatang pauh by election candiadtes anwar and arif shah hanafi hamat "Thus we want all Indians to vote for Anwar and provide an opportunity for Malaysians to have only the second ‘people’s prime minister’ in this country, after the first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra," he said.

Anwar faces a tough battle in the Permatang Pauh by-election against BN’s Ariff Shah Omar Shah and Akim’s Hanafi Hamat.

'Fear tactics'

At the same media conference, DAP’s Jelutong Member of Parliament Jeff Ooi called on voters not to be intimidated by the ‘fear tactics’ mployed by BN and to come out in large numbers to vote for Anwar.

pkr reformasi forum 190708 jeff ooi He cited the large presence of police personnel, rampant road blocks and regular helicopter surveillance in Permatang Pauh as among the ‘fear tactics’ used by BN to confuse and scare the voters.

He also claimed that the existence of phantom voters and missing names of registered voters from the by-election electoral roll showed that "election frauds were already committed" to stop Anwar from an inevitable victory.

"The people of Permatang Pauh should come out in large numbers and vote strongly for Anwar to reject this dirty tactics," he said.