SUNGAI BESAR: Amanah President Mohamad Sabu has thanked former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other Pakatan Harapan and NGO leaders who lent their support to his party in the Sungai Besar by-election.
Mat Sabu said although Pakatan Harapan did not win, the support they received from leaders of the Opposition coalition as well as those of the Citizens’ Declaration helped breathe life into the new party.
“We would like to thank PKR’s Anwar (Ibrahim), DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and others who worked with us so the Amanah representative stood a chance at becoming an MP.
“We’d like to thank those of the Citizens’ Declaration led by Tun Mahathir who had come and showed support for us.
“We admit our votes were not enough to grant us a victory but like I said, what we have now is a new political alignment that has moved away from fanatical parties,” he told reporters at the Sungai Besar Amanah headquarters today.
While conceding that DAP’s aggressive campaigning was one of the factors why Amanah garnered a significant number of votes, Mat Sabu was optimistic that his party would be able to stand on their own given more time.
“We cannot survive on our own yet but in only three months, we still managed to garner over 3,000 Malay votes. That’s significant,” he said, adding that his party would be opening other Amanah branches soon.
Meanwhile Amanah Secretary-General Anuar Tahir said Pakatan Harapan had passed its first test as an Opposition coalition.
“Amanah has passed the test. Passed with honours, not just a simple pass. With our meagre machinery and our own pocket money, this nine-month-old party has received a silver medal,” he said.
Meanwhile candidate Azhar Abdul Shukur thanked God and said his party now had two years to work on their machinery in Sungai Besar in time for the next General Election.
He said that victory alone was not a destination. Rather it was what could be learned from the journey.
“I learnt so much and I feel that I have succeeded in my first endeavour.”