PENAMPANG: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Likas division chairman Chin Shu Ying has cautioned that the days of the Barisan Nasional (BN) having absolute power is truly over and that racial politicking no longer works with the current electorate.
“It is time for all of us to think as Malaysians and put the country’s interest ahead of personal interests,” Chin said at the LDP joint annual general meeting (AGM) of the Api-Api, Likas and Luyang divisions here yesterday.
He noted that the number of citizens becoming aware of political developments is steadily increasing after observing the high voter turnout during the 13th General Election (GE13) in May.
Chin therefore advised the BN government to look into delivering its promises as espoused in its manifesto and warned of judgment from the people in the next election, if these promises were not fulfilled.
He also hoped that all elected representatives, especially those from the opposition, will not just pay lip services to the public and urged them to propose solutions to public issues and concerns.
Commenting on the swing of votes from middle and upper class electorates to the opposition during GE13, Chin feels that it is caused by the perception that BN is the root cause of corruption, cronyism and crime in the country.
“I believe that the votes towards opposition were votes of protest, caused by a negative perception of BN as revealed by the opposition. Whether this perception is true or not, BN must do something drastic to overturn this mindset by the next election,” he said, with an advice for BN to note seriously the issue of the vote swing from middle and upper-class voters.
According to him, basic needs are no longer an issue for the middle and upper class electorate. However they are concerned with areas of, amongst others, fair treatment, job opportunity, transparency, public safety, security and good governance.
Chin added that LDP will be holding their party elections within the next few months and offered advice for party members to wisely select its leaders as it will determine the future strength and direction of the party.