By Thanusya Shanmuganathan
KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will accept any outcome in the 13th general election, which sources now believe will be in September, even if it fails to wrest federal power, several leaders have said.
The leaders repeated DAP MP Lim Kit Siang’s promise yesterday that they would do everything in their capacity to prevent any trouble on the streets after the polls and avoid a repeat of the bloody racial clashes of May 13, 1969.
PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar pointed out to The Malaysian Insider that it was Umno and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) blood that PR is baying for, not that of innocent Malaysians.
“So if we win, the first action would be to investigate the corruption that exists in BN,” she vowed when contacted last night.
She said, however, that if PR is defeated, the pact was willing to accept the wishes of the electorate.
“We will accept a clean and fair result, regardless whether we win or lose.
“[But] If BN wins the election by cheating, we will not accept it,” said the Lembah Pantai MP.
Her father, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who has been named the federal opposition’s prime minister-in-waiting, had recently said that the coming 13th general election would be his final shot at power.
The polls are expected to be the toughest to date for the ruling BN under Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who desperately needs to capture a stronger parliamentary seat-majority to strengthen his mandate.
In Election 2008, a BN pact led by Najib’s predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority and five states — Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan — to the loose coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS.
Opposition leaders, preparing for a greater tsunami, believe that BN leaders have grown desperate and are willing to pull out all the stops to ensure PR does not claim the Putrajaya throne when polls are called.
On Friday, Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin raised again the spectre of the May 13 racial riots in Kuala Lumpur and urged the country’s youths to stand united to avoid a similar incident from occurring.
Nurul Izzah accused Muhyiddin of using the issue as a scare tactic to frighten Malaysians into voting for BN for the sake of maintaining public peace and order.
She asked instead if BN would be willing to accept defeat, adding that their alleged threats of violence were because they were afraid of their own shadow.
PAS has been around for a long time. Our credentials are enough to prove that we have never challenged the results of any previous GE and will not do so in the coming GE. — Dzulkefly Ahmad
PAS MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad concurred with his PR ally, saying his party would not resort to violence should it lose the next election.
“PAS has been around for a long time. Our credentials are enough to prove that we have never challenged the results of any previous GE and will not do so in the coming GE.
“However, if we find any irregularities in the votes, we will take action through the best legal means available. Otherwise, all parties must comply with the results,” he said.
The Kuala Selangor MP, however, asked that all demands of polls watchdog Bersih 2.0 be fulfilled before the elections are called to ensure a clean and smooth polling process.
“Only then will the people truly accept the results of the election and another May 13 incident can be averted. After all, the people only want a clean and fair election,” he said.
DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said his party had always accepted past election results despite its belief that the polls process had been rigged.
“We know that in order to win, we have to overcome artificial hurdles put in place by BN & the Election Commission (EC). The call for free & fair elections includes a freely accessible and unbiased media during campaign periods. This is one of the biggest challenges we face,” he said via Blackberry Messenger last night.
Pua also gave assurance that whatever the outcome of the coming polls, the May 13 tragedy would never be repeated in Malaysia.
“We in DAP and Pakatan are ever ready to sit down with BN to ensure that whoever wins, no May 13 will ever be repeated in Malaysia.
“The question is will BN agree to it in order to reduce the fears of Malaysians?
“If not, then it is clear that BN is really just using May 13 as a ploy to win elections, and not really sincere in wanting to ensure a peaceful outcome regardless of who win the next GE,” he said.