Zahid Wants The Local Media To Convince Non-Malay Voters To Support BN
DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, also asked UMNO members to get out of their comfort zone in order to win back the trusts of non-Malay voters in Selangor by the 14th general election.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 01 Sep 2015, 07:34 PM
Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has called on the media to entice Chinese and Indian voters into supporting Barisan Nasional (BN)
While officiating an UMNO meeting yesterday, Zahid reasoned that the multi-racial media presence there, proves that the non-Malays are not against the government.
"Right now they are not convinced by us. They don't hate us that much. If you don't believe me, ask the reporters. They don't hate us. If they hate us, they wouldn't have come here, am I right?" Zahid said, gesturing towards the pressmen at the side of the hall.
The Umno vice-president's request was met with loud applause.
themalaysianinsider.com
Following that, he stressed on the importance of reforms in BN in order for them to win the hearts of non-Malay voters
“If we want to form the government in Selangor again, we must change our attitude, mindset and approach to convince voters that we can serve them better.
“The Chinese and Indians have voted for us before because they were confident in us. So, we must work to convince them again in the coming general election,” he said when closing the Puchong Umno division meeting here yesterday.
Mulling over the reasons for the current anti-BN culture, he blamed the opposition for instigating hatred against the longest ruling party in the nation
“Why did the support from Chinese and Indian voters go down? Perhaps it was because of the culture of hatred being cultivated against Umno and Barisan,” he said.
He said Umno must overcome the culture of hatred against the party that was being instilled by the Opposition as it affected many among the electorate, especially undecided voters.
Zahid also chided the ruling coalition for fighting among themselves, citing that as another reason why BN has lost its supporters
Hence, BN must change their attitude if they want to win Selangor back from the opposition, he said.
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He also addressed the generational gap and current changes in modes of communication as something to focus on in order to gain votes of young Malaysians
“We are not as effective in wooing this group, which requires new approaches such as reaching out to them online.
“The political landscape has changed but what has not changed is our attitude, and unless we do so we will never be able to rise again,” said Dr Ahmad Zahid.
Zahid also dropped a few words of wisdom to overcome the challenges the ruling coalition has been facing
Zahid said, to combat the hatred, Umno must expose the flaws of the state government at every turn.
"Don't be afraid to reveal the bad side of others, for the sake of Selangor folk's interests.
He also urged Umno not to rely on money and projects, saying that were not the main factor that would contribute to victory at elections.
themalaysianinsider.com
After his speech on reforms and wooing non-Malay voters, Zahid announced today, 1 September, that two minister posts would be allocated to Selangor if BN recaptures the state
"Make sure that Umno BN takes over Selangor and wrest back parliamentary seats in the state. God willing, I will advise the prime minister to appoint not one, but two full ministers from Selangor," he said when officiating the Petaling Jaya Selatan Umno division meeting in Subang Jaya last night.
Selangor has currently no ministers in the Cabinet.
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Zahid also urged BN members to ignore coalition members who refuse to work with Selangor UMNO in regaining power there
"I got the report. I know. So, I don't care about component parties who do not want to work. Take those that want to. If the leader does not want to cooperate with us, we will call their members to work with us because Umno is the backbone of BN.
"I will tell Datuk Donald Lim, MIC's Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam and Datuk Mah Siew Keong (Gerakan) about the report and will ensure they help us," he said, adding that his words were not a warning.
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