Speaking to FMT, Jeniri said harping on national issues, such as 1MDB and the recent US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) suits, would not help garner votes for Opposition parties as it was hard for those living in rural areas to grasp how these issues could affect their everyday lives.
“They’re more interested in bread and butter issues as these are closer to their heart,” he said, adding that talking about issues such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would prove more effective.
He said rural voters were getting fed up with hearing the same issues being repeatedly voiced by the Opposition and that it had been proven to be ineffective.
“You’re not going to convince them. It didn’t work in the Sarawak state election and it didn’t work in the Sg Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections either.”
On the other hand, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan said it was not impossible to make rural voters understand the gravity of these national issues, but that the media had an important role to play.
“The problem is that the mainstream media is not covering these issues,” he told FMT.
“It all depends on whether news can be disseminated properly and in a language that shows that these national issues are relevant to them.”
He, however, conceded that persuading rural voters wouldn’t be easy as often conspiracy propaganda regarding the West would get in the way.
“It’s going to be challenging. Too many people are persuaded by Western conspiracy against Muslims and no matter how stupid it is, it’s not easy to defeat.”
Meanwhile, political analyst Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said based on surveys during the Sg Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections, they found that rural voters were, in fact, thankful to Prime Minister Najib Razak and that the policies he had put in place after he took over administration had grabbed their attention more than national issues.
“I’m sorry to say this, but national issues will not hold sway over the rural voters,” he told FMT.
“Based on surveys made, we found that rural voters are happy with the prime minister’s policies, including the introduction of BR1M (The 1Malaysia People’s Aid), and bringing computers to the rural areas. They realise that the former premiers (Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) didn’t do this when they were in power.”
Last April, Najib was reported as saying that the government would implement a programme to supply laptops to fifth formers sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination in Sarawak.
“National issues may hold ground in Selangor, Penang and certain areas of Johor, but not in the rural areas. Even in Kedah, they’re more concerned about Mukhriz being sacked than the DoJ suits or 1MDB,” said Awang.
He disagreed with Jeniri’s statement that talking about GST would be more effective.
Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin as saying that there would be no issue in explaining the DoJ’s suits to Umno grassroots members in his constituency when they hold their divisional meeting on Aug 28.
“This is the beauty of my Kinabatangan: the people here don’t want to know all the claims made outside (of their constituency). They want to know what the government of the day can give them,” he said.
Recently, FMT reported that Parti Keadilan Rakyat had begun the initiative to explain to the people, both inside and outside urban areas, the “complicated issues” regarding 1MDB.
Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin had also expressed his willingness to support the initiative.