NIBONG TEBAL: Indian voters in the Sungai Bakap state constituency will not boycott the by-election on Saturday (July 6) but will, instead, give their solid support to the Unity Government candidate Dr Joohari Ariffin, said Penang PKR vice-chairman A. Kumaresan.
Refuting allegations that 72 per cent of the Indians will boycott the by-election following the cancellation of the construction of the new Tamil national-type school (SJKT) in Sungai Bakap, the Batu Uban assemblyman said this was merely psychological warfare by the opposition to scare the minority voters.
“We know that various issues have been raised, including that of SJKT Sungai Bakap and a media conference is expected to be held tomorrow regarding the school. We also know this is not a new issue but one that’s dragged on for some time.
“Now that the state government and the Federal Government are in the same camp (Unity Government), we are confident this issue can be resolved swiftly,” he told a joint media conference with the Indian Progressive Front (IPF) party machinery for the Sungai Bakap state by-election here tonight.
Kumaresan said that based on the monitoring and results of the programmes implemented by the Unity Government, it is found that most of the Indian voters, who comprise 17 per cent of the electorate in Sungai Bakap, have responded positively to continue to support the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the support is also due to the work done by the Unity Government machinery, including the IPF, in focusing on the two district polling centres, namely Puteri Gunong and Sungai Bakap, which have a large number of Indian communities, in addition to implementing programmes catering to communities in Ladang Sempah, Kampung Besar, Sungai Kechil and Tasek Junjong.
He, however, admitted that their main challenge would be to get the Indian voters to come out and vote on Saturday, adding that they will implement several methods to ensure an 80 per cent voter turnout among Indians, including providing transport and explaining to them the importance of exercising their rights.
Meanwhile, Penang IPF chairman S. Kumareshan, who was also at the media conference, said the party will transport 500 Puteri Gunong Indian voters to cast their ballots on Saturday.
Earlier, a post on WhatsApp went viral claiming that a study among the Indian community in Sungai Bakap found that 72 per cent of them will boycott the by-election because the Education Ministry has cancelled the construction of the new SJTK Sungai Bakap and Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, who is also the Nibong Tebal Member of Parliament, has yet to make a decision.
The July 6 Sungai Bakap by-election will see a straight fight between Joohari and Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Abidin Ismail following the death of the incumbent Nor Zamri Latiff on May 24 due to stomach inflammation.
