HULU SELANGOR: Perikatan Nasional is gaining support from former Umno members who felt the party had strayed from its core struggles, says Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (pic).

The former prime minister said this was because Umno had decided to cooperate with DAP.

"Many of them are saying it is time to support Perikatan," he said at a ceramah at Ampang Pecah on Monday (May 6) night.

The Perikatan chairman also said he felt a new wave of support for the coalition in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election, a trend he expected to continue until the 16th General Election in three years.

Muhyiddin said it was important to ensure a high turnout, citing results of the state elections last year, where not many Malays had cast their ballots.

“There are nearly 47% Malay voters here but the ones that came out to vote were not even 70% of that total.

“The Chinese, despite comprising about 30% of the voters, were smarter in valuing the importance of an election, where the turnout rate reached 90%.

"That is why they could achieve victory,” said Muhyiddin.

Muhyiddin said if Malays were more aware of the importance of voting, then the outcome of the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election will send a clear signal to the federal government.

The Pagoh MP also said that if Perikatan Nasional was in power, it would have solved the local rice shortage issue within two weeks.

He criticised the slow response of the government in handling the matter, saying that the issue remained unsolved despite rounds of meetings.

“This is a crisis, why can't it be solved? But, if Perikatan is in power, not even a month, maybe two weeks, this issue would have been solved.

“We will call in all manufacturers, producers, major companies and stakeholders to discuss based on data and information,” said Muhyiddin .

Muhyiddin said there were various factors causing lower local rice yield, and the government had a responsibility to resolve it as soon as possible.

Last month, the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry assured the public that the rice supply is sufficient and the price of imported white rice was also reduced, adding that the distribution of local white rice was underway.

The KKB by-election will see a four-cornered fight between Pakatan's Pang Sock Tao, Perikatan's Khairul Azhari Saut, Parti Rakyat Malaysia's Hafizah Zainudin and Independent candidate Nyau Ke Xin.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/07/kkb-polls-perikatan-gaining-support-from-former-umno-members-says-muhyiddin