Claims of PKR's weak Malay support a political narrative - Analyst

SHAH ALAM - PKR, spearheading the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, is hailed as the party shaping the future of the nation.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia's (UTM) Perdana Centre, Faculty of Razak Technology and Informatics Senior Lecturer stressed that PKR's dynamism reflects its responsiveness to public sentiments, debunking claims lacking support from the Malay community.

"For example, we take the administration of PH in Selangor since 2008, which did not sideline the struggles of the Malay community.

"It has caused the party to continue to be supported by the Selangor voters," he said during Sinar Forum edition 437, ' 25 years of PKR: Reformasi vs perception,' on Tuesday.

Commenting further, Mazlan said that the Malay agenda is not sidelined by PKR, which supposedly does not care for the community.

"In Selangor, the Malay population is the backbone, and PH still dominates Malay-majority areas such as Shah Alam and Kuala Selangor.

"Many of these areas were won, so I disagree with the narrative that Malays do not support PKR," he added.

Meanwhile, he said that the brief and concise campaigns broadcasted on social media platforms were PKR's initiative to introduce the party and attract votes from young people.

Mazlan said that the developments on social media are too fast, and PKR previously used it extensively to promote information related to their party and national politics.

According to him, the initiative through social media was driven by the fact that the party, which was then the Opposition, could not use mainstream media and government-owned television, leading them to be more recognised on social media.

"The journey of reform was carried out on social media, especially by PKR at that time, because there was a lot of time to discuss and attack to weaken the government at that time.

"The use of social media after 1998, during the 13th General Election (GE13), the narrative brought was true.

"Young people supported not because they understood, but because they believed in the campaign conducted on social media," he added.

Mazlan added that the party's current success is due to its ability to adapt and change its DNA from Umno to a separate party with its own support segments.

According to him, these results are seen as pro-people, causing PKR to win in urban or semi-urban areas, although its performance in rural or conservative Malay areas has not yet been achieved.