IPOH: The Communications Ministry will review how government policies and programmes are communicated to the people to ensure better understanding.

Its minister Fahmi Fadzil said they would review their plans and make the necessary changes.

"The manifestation of how we disseminate information may need to be changed.

"The people in an area may get these information, but whether they understand it or the counterarguments by the Opposition, we need to manage this more thoroughly," he said in a press conference after the opening of the National Information Dissemination Centre (Nadi) by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Kampung Dato Ahmad Said Tambahan 2 here on Monday (July 8).

"I will take feedback from all parties and our machinery into consideration," he added.

Fahmi was asked whether Pakatan Harapan's defeat to Perikatan Nasional during the Sungai Bakap by-election in Penang was due to the rejection by the people over some of the government's policies.

PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari had said that Perikatan's victory in the by-election was due to the people rejecting the diesel subsidy rationalisation introduced by the unity government.

Perikatan's candidate Abidin Ismail defeated Pakatan's Dr Joohari Ariffin with a 4,267-vote majority, which was more than the previous assemblyman, the late Nor Zamri Latiff.

Abidin polled 14,489 votes while Joohari got 10,222 votes.

Fahmi said they would look into all the factors of the defeat in their post-mortem, which was still in progress.

"To say it (the defeat) was due to one or several policies, we will look into it.

"We will learn from this, as mentioned by the Prime Minister and spoken by the people through their votes," he said, adding that Pakatan, PKR and the unity government will conduct a thorough discussion.

"We are aware that the polling date in Sungai Bakap was less than a month after the diesel subsidy rationalisation was announced.

"Some of the applications to get Madani aid or fleet card were also still being processed," he added.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/07/08/ministry-to-review-how-government-policies-and-programmes-are-conveyed-to-the-people---fahmi