DAP’s Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo appeared to have taken the easy way out by blaming PAS’ hudud agenda as the reason why the party had lost in the just concluded Teluk Intan by-election.
PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar said Gobind’s claim was baseless.
“If we want to say the Chinese did not vote for DAP because of hudud, it is something weird because everyone knows DAP is consistent in opposing hudud. It cannot be that Chinese do not trust DAP in opposing hudud.
Things would be different if the Chinese did not vote for a PAS candidate because PAS wants hudud,” the Pokok Sena MP told Harakahdaily.
If hudud was a factor at all, Mahfuz questioned why it had no impact on Chinese votes in the Bukit Gelugor by-election.
Earlier, in a statement posted on Facebook, Gobind alleged that hudud controversy had resulted in a silent protest vote against Pakatan Rakyat in the Teluk Intan by-election, where DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud was defeated by Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong by a very slim majority of 238 votes.
Many political analysts agreed that the low voters turnout at 67.4 percent was the key contributor to BN victory as Mah only managed to secure extra 71 votes, from the 20,086 votes he received in the 2013 general election to 20,157 votes he received from the by-election.
Meanwhile, PAS research centre director Dzulkefly Ahmad said it was too early to conclude what went wrong in the Teluk Intan by-election.
The former Kuala Selangor MP cautioned its partners in Pakatan Rakyat against being trapped in blame-game syndrome following their bitter defeat at Teluk Intan.
“Whatever the factors of our successes or failure, it can only be evaluated based on research and not analysis from the comfort of one’s chair,” he was quoted saying by Malaysiakini.
