NIBONG TEBAL: Malay voters in Sungai Bakap are increasingly showing support for the unity government, says PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli.
Based on a party survey, only 48 per cent of Malays in Sungai Bakap currently support Perikatan Nasional (PN). This marks a significant drop from the August state elections, where about 77 per cent of Malay voters backed PN.
"Now, when we asked the voters if they are happy with PN's performance over the past year, we expected 70 per cent to support them. However, only 48 percent are," he said during the Ceramah Perpaduan last night.
He added that Malay voters had been dissatisfied with PN's handling of the state seat, and this dissatisfaction is even more pronounced among Chinese and Indian voters.
In the August 2023 state elections, the Sungai Bakap state seat, traditionally a stronghold for Barisan Nasional and PH, was won by PN's Nor Zamri Latiff.
The seat became vacant following Nor Zamri's death on May 24, triggering the upcoming by-election, which will see a straight fight between Pakatan Harapan's Dr Joohari Ariffin and PN's Abidin Ismail.
Rafizi criticised PN for using the water supply disruption issue in their campaign, pointing out that Pas deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who previously served as the minister in charge of water, failed to address the problem during his tenure.
He also expressed concerns over Tuan Ibrahim's potential return as a minister, highlighting a recent controversy where Tuan Ibrahim claimed that Abidin held an ISO14001-2015 certification, which is typically for companies and individuals, not an academic qualification.
This has led to netizens questioning Abidin's academic credentials.
Abidin had brushed aside the question about attacks on his academic qualifications.
Since taking over, the unity government had initiated various infrastructure projects to address water issues, Rafizi said.
"We announced projects for Penang-Perak. We also announced projects for Kelantan. We will continue to implement projects for the benefit of the people," he added.