DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke has denied talk that the Chinese community, especially in Telemong and Kampung Baru here, will not go out to vote in the Pelangai state by-election tomorrow.
He said the DAP machinery has been working hard to ensure that electors in the constituency go out to fulfil their responsibilities to ensure a victory for Barisan Nasional.
Telemong is an area in the Pelangai constituency where the majority of the population is non-Malays. There are about 4,000 non-Malay voters in the area.
“This Saturday, we will make sure the (DAP) votes we have are transferred to Barisan.
“With this formula, I am confident that we will help Barisan win with a comfortable majority,” he was quoted by Bernama after attending the Telemong Tanglung Festival here on Wednesday.
The by-election is being held following the death of assemblyman Datuk Seri Johari Harun, 53, in a plane crash in Shah Alam, Selangor, on Aug 17.
In the 15th General Election (GE15), Johari, who represented Barisan, won with a majority of 4,048 votes, defeating Perikatan Nasional candidate Kasim Samat, who obtained 3,260 votes, Ahmed Wafiuddin Shamsuri of Pakatan Harapan (2,031 votes) and Pejuang candidate Isa Ahmad (65 votes).
According to Loke, he has, since the beginning of the campaigning period, instructed Pahang DAP to earnestly carry out their campaign to support Barisan in terms of morale, resources and manpower.
He said the formula of shifting the votes of the Chinese and DAP supporters to Barisan was proven successful in helping Barisan win the state election in Tioman.
The scheduled polling for Tioman on Nov 19, 2022, was cancelled due to the unfortunate passing of Perikatan candidate Md Yunus Ramli on the same day. The new date for the election was then rescheduled for Dec 7 of the same year.