KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 – United for the Rights of Malays (Urimai) party interim leader P. Ramasamy today boasted that his recently formed Indian-origin party had succeeded in denting the voter base of the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the by-election in the state of Kuala Kubu Baru in Selangor.
Ramasamy, a long-time DAP member who quit last August ahead of the state election, had sought to mobilise ethnic Indians in the Selangor state parliamentary seat against the party and the PH coalition by claiming they would no longer advocate for the rights of this demographic minority group.
“Urimai’s campaign not to vote for the PH/DAP candidate was successful to some extent,” the former three-term deputy chief minister of Penang said in a statement.
According to Ramasamy, nearly 50 percent of ethnic Indians voted yesterday, especially those living near the residential areas in Kuala Kubu Baru.
He claimed that the low voter turnout in India was because the coalition government’s announcement of a RM75 million labour housing project in the five settlements in Bestari Jaya district and another RM5.21 million development project for Hulu Selangor district had not affected them much.
“In fact, the turnout of Indians was much lower compared to the 2023 state elections. In the future too, Indians will either boycott the PH candidates or vote against them.
“Indians’ dissatisfaction with the PH coalition that contested the 2023 state elections has continued in the Kuala Kubu Baru elections.
“Not everyone supported the PH-DAP candidate, a significant portion of the votes went to Perikatan Nasional,” he added, referring to the opposition coalition.
Ramasamy said the low turnout among ethnic Indian voters in yesterday’s poll was “just the beginning” of the community’s dissatisfaction and frustration with the ruling PH-BN alliance.
“Urimai is encouraged by the attitude of Indians in the KKB polls.
“A more detailed breakdown of voting trends in the KKB polls will be provided later,” he added.
Urimai, which means “rights” in Tamil, the most widely spoken language among Malaysia’s Indian ethnic group, was founded last year.
The party made its first electoral foray in the by-elections in Kuala Kubu Baru, although it did not field its own candidate.
The seat in the state of Selangor was won by first-time candidate Pang Sock Tao of DAP-PH.
The 31-year-old beat 54-year-old local Khairul Azhari Saut of Bersatu-PN, independent Nyau Ke Xin and Hafizah Zainuddin of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) with a majority of 3,869 votes.
Voter turnout was 61.51 percent, one of the lowest in the by-elections following the 15th parliamentary elections.
A total of 39,269 voters were eligible to cast their votes today, after 97 percent, or 769 police officers and military personnel and their spouses, had already cast their votes in early voting last Tuesday.
The seat in Kuala Kubu Baru became vacant after local MP Lee Kee Hiong, also from DAP-PH, died of cancer on March 21 after serving three terms in office.
In the election in the state of Selangor last August, she won with a majority of 4,119 votes against three other candidates from PN, PRM and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance.
