LETTER | Harapan should not take minorities' votes for granted

LETTER | The election for six states are over and the bigger victor seems to be Perikatan Nasional, who was even able to make inroads where minority communities reside.

The primary concern for Pakatan Harapan component parties, especially DAP, should be the drop of votes from the Indian community.

It is not only disastrous to lose the Malay vote, but losing those votes that are crucial for Harapan's foundational survival is even worse.

Indians might constitute about 7 percent of the total population.

Still, they are mainly concentrated in urban areas along the west coast states in the peninsula, that is, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor.

This is why it is often mentioned that Indians might make a difference in varying degrees in about 60 constituencies where they make up more than 10 percent of voters.

According to political analyst Bridget Walsh the three states of Negeri Sembilan, Penang and Selangor, Indian support dropped for the unity government (Harapan and BN) by an estimated 21 percent, 19 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

When combined with the highest drop in turnout of all the communities, there was higher dissatisfaction among Indian voters with the unity government.

PN, on its part, won an estimated 29 percent of the Indian vote in Penang, the highest in the six states.

Before the 15th general election, DAP under Anthony Loke met various Indian NGOs with an empathic ear.

Still, the question is what actions have been taken so far since the formation of the unity government and what results from all those discussions.

DAP, which is quite proud of the Malay votes they receive in certain constituencies, should not take fellow Malaysian minority votes for granted.

They should also stop sidelining leaders in the party who disagree with them.

If the DAP could work with former nemesis Umno, they should also learn to work with those of dissenting views within the party, whether at the state or federal level politics.

Win-win solution

There is a need for a win-win attitude in managing coalition politics of unity government.

At the same time, it should be balanced with respect for internal party dissent where a win-win solution through dialogue could also be worked out or at least given room for expression.

It is hoped that Harapan leadership as a whole would come to terms with some of its contradictory attitudes and work towards being a coalition of conscience in the country.

It has to project more of a grassroots coalition concerned with legitimate issues instead of pandering to right-wing interests or developer politics of the DAP that we see in Penang.

Big-picture politics would ultimately weaken the coalition, which tries to downplay any legitimate dissent and panders to nonsensical extreme identity politics without a conscience of what is right and just.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.