KUALA LUMPUR: A DAP assemblyman says the party's "straightforward" strategy for the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election is to ensure greater voter turnout in the May 11 polls.

"We want voters to come out, we want voter turnout to be high," said Lim Yi Wei, the Kampung Tunku assemblyman.

She said DAP was counting on a high turnout of voters from its traditional voter base, and the Orang Asli community who make up around five percent of voters in Kuala Kubu Baharu.

Lim also voiced hope that Malay voters would give the party's candidate Pang Sock Tao, a chance.

"Many Malay voters have expressed profound sadness for YB Lee's passing and we hope they will also entrust us and Pang with the same trust and love they gave YB Lee," said Lim on New Straits Times' Beyond the Headlines.

On her thoughts about Perikatan Nasional's candidate, Khairul Azhari Saut, Lim said she hoped the battle for Kuala Kubu Baharu would be a "happy and fair fight".

Asked about DAP's appeal outside urban areas and among non-Chinese communities, Lim said DAP was a Malaysian party that catered to all.

"While certain demographic and leadership trends within the party may have appeared to skew towards the Chinese majority, it's essential to recognise that our founding members and prominent leaders have always embraced diversity."

She also said politicians in urban areas tended to have better visibility in the media because of better infrastructure but this did not mean DAP lacked a presence outside these areas.

"Our grassroots in the semi-urban, semi-rural, and rural areas are working quietly on the ground."

Lim said there is a greater need to move away from the old model of compartmentalising voter demographics as issues affecting the people were more socioeconomic.

The widening gap between the affluent and the impoverished, she said, perpetuated social inequities and hindered upward mobility.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/1043289/high-voter-turnout-daps-strategy-win-kkb-election-nsttv