KLANG: Saying that Malays and Islam will lose their special position in Malaysia is like saying there is a ghost on a tree that no one is able to see.

       This is how Amanah president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu described the baseless fear that was peddled by Opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional to win over Malay voters in last year’s 15th General Election and this year’s state polls.

       “Islam and Malay rights being threatened are two issues that were played up by the Opposition to win votes,” Mohamad said in his speech at the Amanah national convention here yesterday.

       “It is like saying there is a ghost on a tree so that those who pass by under it will get scared even though they have never seen the ghost.”

       The Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition, of which Amanah is a member, has blamed Perikatan’s large gains in Malay-majority seats on the latter’s use of incendiary racial and religious rhetoric.

       In by-elections this year, Perikatan leaders like chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have also been investigated by the police for his alleged inflammatory remarks on the campaign trail.

       In his speech, Mohamad said that the party was aiming to win six to seven parliamentary seats in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah in the next general election despite losing badly in those states during GE15.

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       “We have four more years to reach this target,” he said.

       The Agriculture and Food Security Minister also defended the party leadership’s decision when they ceded some seats to their partners in Pakatan in the August state polls.

       He said that last-minute changes had to be made to ensure that Pakatan, as a coalition, had the best chance of winning even if this meant that Amanah had to give way to PKR.

       Although party delegates were critical of these decisions, Mohamad said, as president, he would take them in his stride. He also supported the idea of reviving local government elections, saying that they would be a win-win for all races and that those elected will be able to serve the public instead of their political parties.

       This was in response to Kuala Lumpur DAP chairman and Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai’s proposal to restore local council elections which had been halted since 1976.