KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah president Mohamad Sabu has acknowledged that the opposition faces an uphill task to garner voters’ support at the next general election.
Speaking to delegates attending the party’s Federal Territories convention via video-conferencing, Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, said that some people had “given up” on voting for elected representatives.
“They question why they should cast votes for an MP or assembly member. Even if their choice won, the coalition may not form the government because some elected representatives could switch sides and in the end, those who lost the election can still lead the government.
“Yes we won in the GE. But later we started losing in by-elections, from Tanjung Piai to Kimanis. If we were defeated at an election, we will accept the loss, but we were ‘defeated’ through a backdoor manner,” he said.
His remark was viewed as a reference to the Perikatan Nasional government formed by Umno, PPBM, PAS and other parties in March after defections caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government which won the 2018 general election. PH, comprising PPBM, PKR, DAP and Amanah, came to power after winning 123 Dewan Rakyat seats, including 10 from its allies in Sabah.
Mohamad said Amanah hoped to restore the democratic election process through the people. Amanah would continue to defend the opposition coalition, with an approach to “make more friends than foes”.
“The friends we are making must have principles. But at the same time, we do not leave our friends behind. In that way, we can achieve majority support from the people,” he added.