The Malaysian Insight

IT was an easy decision for Zulhazmi Shariff to leave PAS in 2015 for DAP, party with a completely different political ideology, DAP.

The move paid off when he was named the Pakatan Harapan candidate for Jerai – a Malay super-majority parliamentary seat in PAS state Kedah – in the  general election.

The 47-year-old Zulhazmi told The Malaysian Insight that he chose DAP because he believes the multiracial party is a principled party even though it is often labeledl as chauvinistic, anti-Malay and anti-Islam. 

“We (DAP) offer our service to the people, no matter what race they are. We are Malaysians, there is no need to play with issues of race and religion.

“We believe the time has come for DAP to break down the racial wall. Previously, DAP was accused of focusing on Chinese-majority seats, but this time we want to prove that wrong,” he said in an interview in Guar Chempedak, recently.

DAP has also fielded Malay candidates in several other parliamentary seats with a majority of Malay voters.

Among the seats are Bangi in Selangor and Lipis and Bentong in Pahang. DAP also has Malay candidates in three parliamentary seats in Johor: Ayer Hitam, Pontian and Mersing. 

These are seats are mixed constituencies with more Malays, except for Mersing, Pontian, and Jerai, which are constituencies with a high Malay majority of more than 75%.

“We in Kedah want to show that DAP can be accepted by the Malays,” said the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia law graduate. 

“I enjoy being a breaker of the racial wall that has been built by portraying DAP as a Chinese party and anti-Islam. I am trying to break that wall,” he said. 

Jerai, as a Malay-majority seat, is targetted by Umno and PAS. Jerai has 80% Malay voters, according to the 2018 voter register.

In 2018, PAS candidate Sabri Azit narrowly won the seat by 539 votes, or 0.82%, defeating former minister Jamil Khir Baharom of BN and Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi of Bersatu.

All three candidates had received an almost equal share of the vote.

In 2022, Jerai has 105,001 voters, 24% more than the 79,976 in 2018. Eighty per cent of them are Malay. 

The Jerai parliament is made up of the three state constituencies of Sungai Limau, Guar Chempedak, and Gurun.

Sabri and Jamil are in the race again this time, as is Gabungan Tanah Air (GTA) candidate Nizam Mashar.

Zulhazmi is confident he has a chance of winning.

“I don’t want to be over-confident, but from the response of the voters and opponents, there is room to win. I am optimistic.

“If I lose there is no problem; at least I want to open people’s minds,” he said. 

Zulhazmi said he is reaching out to voters through an information programme and his relatives in Jerai.

“In Sungai Limau I have many relatives on my father and mother’s side of the family. I explain to them that DAP is not a party that focuses on one race.

“My relatives are all in PAS. When I meet them I tell them why I joined DAP, why I ran from PAS… So they know; they seem open to it,” he said.

However, Zulhazmi’s candidacy has caused problems in PH, especially in Amanah.

Amanah was eyeing the Jerai seat but the PH leadership had allocated the seat to DAP.

The fallout had resulted in Kedah Amanah chairman Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi being fired from the party.

Phahrolrazi has called on Amanah members to boycott the PH campaign in Jerai. 

Following the sacking, a handful of Amanah members have neglected to turn up for Jerai, but Zulhazmi said there are other party members helping out in his campaign.

Zulhazmi said Phahrolrazi could have been influenced by the Malay perception of DAP in matters of race and religion.

“Racism issues have been playing out for too long, so much so that some of us (in PH) are afraid of being accused of being DAP’s lapdog. 

“If a lie is told over and over, people will believe it. I don’t understand why they are so afraid of DAP.” – November 15, 2022.