The PKR and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) de facto leader headlined a series of ceramahs in the parliamentary constituency the size of Malacca state last night, promoting the coalition’s multiracial face and slamming his political foes for their racial politics.
Anwar reserved the vitriol for his former party Umno, which touted the Barisan Nasional (BN) multiracial character by naming MIC information chief, P. Kamalanathan, as its candidate for the April 25 by-election, despite half the electorate being Malay.
“Umno thinks this is their land. They treat the Indians and Chinese like dirt. But we in PR, we do not believe in this. We believe we, all the races, must come together. We are here to work for all and not just the Malays,” he thundered to a multi-racial crowd at a ceramah here.
Selangor, under PR’s control since Election 2008, was testament of PR’s belief in multi-racialism, with PKR Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim practising people-oriented governance for all and not just in the interest of a single race, said Anwar
“Look at the former Umno MB and Khalid. When he gives out free water, it is not just for Malays but for the Indians and the Chinese.”
Anwar is headlining the PKR effort to retain Hulu Selangor. — Pictures by Jack Ooi
The by-election here is crucial for Anwar and PR to restore faith in the coalition’s ambitions to capture Putrajaya in the next general elections, after it lost four PKR MPs recently.
It suffered another blow yesterday when PKR’s Batu Arang state assemblyman, Tan Wei Shu, quit the party citing loss of confidence in the party leadership. The timing of his resignation has dented PR’s full-throttled fight for Hulu Selangor, as sentiments on the ground put its rivals BN in a favourable position to win.
But Anwar appeared unperturbed by this as he continued to mesmerise the crowd and sought to win their hearts through his oratory skills.
The seasoned politician knew just how to charm the crowd as he interspersed his speech with choice Malay, Mandarin and Tamil phrases.
Speaking in Mandarin, the Permatang Pauh MP called Umno leaders “dirty liars”, while he said it was time to “wallop” MIC in Tamil.
Speaking to a thousand-strong and mostly Malay crowd in Bukit Sentosa earlier, he blasted his former party men who had accused him of selling out his race and religion.
“We do not sell the pride of Muslims. Islam is still the religion of the Federation,” Anwar stressed while making a pit stop at the Bukit Sentosa community hall.
“We do not sell the pride of the Malays, the Malay race… but we must follow the principle of mutual respect,” he expounded, adding that there was nothing wrong with maintaining the vernacular languages of the other races.
He took special care to suggest how corruptible his former party was for buying a stake in the San Miguel Corporation — the largest beer company in the Philippines — although the purchase was actually made by Datuk Mirzan Mahathir, the son of his political mentor-turned-nemesis, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamd.
He also spoke directly to the few Indian faces in the audience of the demolition of a temple at the hands of former Selangor mentri besar, Datuk Seri Khir Toyo, and linked it to Umno’s brand of Islam.
“Kita bukan Khir Toyo… Islam untung kalau pergi roboh satu kuil, macam dia roboh dulu (We are not Khir Toyo… Islam profits if a temple is demolished, as how he had done once,” Anwar said, to nods of approval from the floor.
He recounted yet again how the PR bloc had sent a memorandum protesting the increase of gambling licences by the federal Barisan Nasional government, which went against the Islamic code.
Alcohol and gambling are considered haram under Islam.
The Quran-quoting Anwar explained that the better way to promote Islam was to evangelise and explain its benefits through the Quran.
He urged voters in the area to look carefully at the PKR-led Selangor state government’s reform attempts to practise a more just brand of Islam by according fair treatment to all, regardless of race or religion.
Zaid sought to dispel the “moneybags” image being drawn of him.
Zaid picked up the theme from where Anwar left off but chose a more direct and personal approach to win over the voters.
“Saya asal dari miskin. Saya tahu kemiskinan (I was originally poor. I know poverty),” he told the audience, in an attempt to connect them on a more emotional scale as well as to deflect the criticisms against him on his alleged deep pockets
He noted the economic disparity among the different social classes in Hulu Selangor and said PKR’s fight was to close that gap, to save the country from falling into greater trouble in future.
He told them the nation was wealthy but pointed out the uneven distribution of the wealth and asked them to allow him to be their “voice” to push forward reform.
Official campaigning period begins tomorrow after nomination takes place in the morning. There are 64,500 voters in the constituency with a sizeable Indian minority of 19.3 per cent.
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