Mild-mannered Zawawi lambasts BN for claiming PH does not protect the rights of the Malay community and reminds Lokman of the people’s rejection of race and religion rhetoric in GE14.
Facts from Zawawi:
- Malays benefited the most from all the 43 programmes implemented under Selangor’s Peduli Rakyat initiative since 2008
- 95% of beneficiaries under the state’s entrepreneurial development programmes were Malays
- The state government, through PKNS, built 136 units of single-storey semi-detached houses at Felda Sungai Tengi for second-generation settlers
- Jais received RM208.824 million to build and maintain mosques from 2015-2018
- In 2016, state government provided RM16 million to build three tahfiz schools, RM52 million to develop two tahfiz science centres in Pandan and Bagan Terap, RM3.5 million in scholarships to benefit 998 students
- Salaries of all primary religious school teachers raised from RM745 to RM1,500
PKR’s candidate for the Sungai Kandis state by-election Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni said his rival Lokman Noor Adam’s use of the religion card in the campaign would backfire on him, saying Barisan Nasional (BN) seems to have forgotten the reason behinds its defeat in the general election.
He said BN’s exploitation of race and religion resulted in the near wipeout of the coalition in Selangor.
“They should ask themselves what they have done to uphold Islam in all the tens of years they were in power before being rejected by the people,” he told a news conference at the PKR Sungai Kandis operations room.
The by-election on Aug 4 follows the death of incumbent assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei.
BN only managed to win four seats in Selangor in the May polls, while Pakatan Harapan (PH) captured 51. PAS took the remaining one.
Lokman has told Sungai Kandis voters that it would be difficult for Zawawi to defend the position of the Malays, Islam and the Malay rulers even with his religious educational background.
He said Zawawi would have to work within the system as a member of the ruling party, and would find it hard to rectify shortcomings in the system.
“But I am outside the system, so if the government is wrong, I will dare to point it out,” he said.
In response, Zawawi said the PH state government had never neglected the welfare and interests of Muslims in Selangor.
He said large allocations were provided annually to build and improve houses of worship, including 25 new mosques built between 2015 and 2018.
“In the same period, the state religious department (Jais) received allocations totalling RM208.824 million to build and maintain mosques,” he added.
Zawawi said the state government provided RM16 million in 2016 to build three tahfiz schools.
In the same year, he said, RM52 million was allocated to develop two tahfiz science centres in Pandan and Bagan Terap, and RM3.5 million in scholarships to benefit 998 students.
He said salaries of all primary religious school teachers were also raised from RM745 to RM1,500. – FMT