KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan (PH) component party, PKR has less than three years to prevent Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from facing the same fate as former United Kingdom premier Rishi Sunak.
In a warning to the government, Pasir Gudang member of parliament Hassan Abdul Karim said a proper narrative through actions must be built to allow people to put food on the table and not be burdened with the rising cost of living.
This, he said, will allow the people to take a more 'friendly' stance and favour PH, PKR and the government.
"When inflation decreases and workers' wages increase, maybe a large part of the people, especially the B40 and the M40 groups will adopt a more friendly attitude and support PKR, PH and the Madani government," he said in a statement.
Hassan said this following the unity government's defeat in the Sungai Bakap by-election yesterday.
The by-election yesterday saw Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Abidin Ismail winning 14,489 votes defeating PH's Dr Joohari Ariffin who gained 10,222 votes.
Abidin also led with a majority of 4,267, a higher majority compared with the state elections last August.
Meanwhile, Hassan said the unity government's defeat in the Sungai Bakap by-election yesterday was also contributed by national issues, especially the impact of the rationalisation of diesel subsidy implemented by the government in recent months.
The PKR member said the result had signified the people's rejection of the Madani government policies, such as taxes and diesel subsidy rationalisation.
"Objectively, I agree with the federal government and the prime minister (Anwar) that efforts (taken) to strengthen the economy are the right thing to do.
"(However,) the public's reaction including those in Sungai Bakap towards the issue has been detrimental to the PKR candidate. They are angry because the increase in diesel price has caused prices of other goods to increase, leading to a higher cost of living.
"The political narrative was also not in favour (of the government) when the diesel subsidy was partially withdrawn after the government increased the Sales and Services Tax (SST) from six to eight per cent for certain goods," he said.
Hassan added that he also received a cold reception from PKR supporters on the diesel subsidy issue while he went on the ground during the first week of the campaigning period.
"I came to help with the campaign during the first week, (and) I gave a speech. There was a reception.
"We spoke in front of our supporters from PH, especially PKR members. Almost all of them were outsiders and not locals or voters.
"I tried to support the PH candidate and the government on the diesel subsidy issues but my speech was bland and I saw even PH supporters themselves seemed defensive on the issue."
Commenting further, Hassan added that the government's defeat could also be linked to the Auditor General's Report published two days before the polling day.
This, he said, was as the report highlighted embezzlement and leakages worth billions of ringgit that happened during the current government.
"Hence, it is easy for the people in Sungai Bakap to conclude that there is no difference between the current government and the previous administration."
However, he said it must be remembered that Anwar still commands the respect of Malay voters despite of the outcome in Sungai Bakap.
"Anwar's bold and loud stance on the international stage in defence of the Palestinians strengthened his position in the eyes of the Malays in Malaysia who have had emotional and sentimental ties with the Muslims in Palestine for a while."