SHAH ALAM (March 18): The unity government inherited an administration that came with a lot of damages, PKR deputy president Mohd Rafizi Ramli said. 

Rafizi, who is also the economy minister, used the analogy of the current government having been handed down a "house" with heavy damages caused by the previous "occupant". 

“The pillars have been destroyed by termites, the floor and roof are fragile and riddled with holes, and water and electricity supply have been cut after the previous occupant failed to pay the bills,” he said in his winding-up speech at the PKR Special National Congress 2023 here on Saturday (March 18).

Rafizi said such a situation poses new and different challenges for the unity government in its desire to assist the people through sustainable government policies.

“These challenges dropped on us all at one go, where our position and financial access are limited, which means we have to make choices.

“When we inherit a house like this, do we settle the utility bill arrears first? Or fix the termite-infested pillars? Or choose to live with holes on our floor and roof?” he asked.

However, Rafizi said through the unity government's programmes and initiatives that are starting to bear fruit, the people are increasingly able to differentiate between the current government and the opposition, whom he said is only good at disputing the current government's efforts to repair the damage done by the previous administration.

Meanwhile, Rafizi said that based on the latest facts and data that he himself had reviewed from the results of the 15th general election (GE15), he is confident that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition is still getting positive support from Malay voters, the youth in particular. 

He said there was indeed a shift in the number of votes to Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the GE15, but it was only in certain areas, and not the whole country. 

“Looking at it as a whole, especially Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang, which are our strongholds, there was actually no big difference when we compared the level of support of Malay voters in 2022 (GE15) to 2018 (GE14).

“For example, voter support in Selangor was more than 40% in the eastern area in 2022, and even in 2018, it was also more than 40%, and there was a big shift [of votes] on the west coast of Selangor, but it was more from Umno to PN. It was not PH that lost votes,” he said, adding that the same situation was also seen in Negeri Sembilan and Penang.

As such, Rafizi brushed off the opposition’s claims that it is confident of capturing Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang from PH in the upcoming state election, which involves six states that also include Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

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