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GEORGE TOWN – Selangor DAP veteran Charles Santiago has called on the party to undertake more voter engagement efforts and to redouble its social media outreach following concerns that the voter turnout may be lower than expected.
Santiago said that there are now fears among political insiders that the turnout may be below what was seen in the last general election, which was around 82%.
“We need a high turnout to ensure that the seats won by Pakatan Harapan (PH)-Barisan Nasional (BN) in the past can be defended well. We understand that many urbanised voters may be suffering from political fatigue,” said Santiago in an interview.
It is understandable as the country had to endure four prime ministers in five years as well as a change in federal government thrice while dealing with an economic downturn, inflation and Covid-19, not to mention political overdose.
Penang, Kedah, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan and Terengganu will hold their respective state elections on August 12 with early voting on August 8.
Santiago, a former MP for Klang, said that DAP together with the allies like PKR and BN’s Umno need to conceive a strategy to woo voters to the polling stations.
He said that the future of the country is at stake if seats are predominantly lost to forces advocating extremism and racial ideologies.
“We cannot allow the politics of hatred to take root in the country. The fundamental aspect of the country has always been moderation,” he said.
He also urged PH-BN to prepare sufficiently for possible rough weather, including heavy rain on polling day, while also cautioning about the possibility of high humidity.
“The hot weather may also deter voters from coming out in strong numbers,” he said. – The Vibes, August 4, 2023
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