Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) lost its debut election in the State of Johor where the party contested the huge Kota Iskandar seat N49. PSM candidate Arangkannal Rajoo (Ara) received close to a thousand votes, even though he was unable to secure his deposit. We congratulate the winners and concede defeat.
PSM takes note that all the parties which won seats were part of a coalition – Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan; while all political parties who were not part of any coalition like Pejuang, Warisan, Parti Bangsa Malaysia, Putra and PSM lost their elections as well as their deposits.
The result of the polls is not surprising given the very low voter turnout. PSM believes that the rakyat is not wrong in not showing enthusiasm for this election as it was forced on them while the nation was still recovering from the pandemic. Many voters from Singapore also did not turn up. If the turnout has larger, definitely the outcome would be different.
On the contrary, PSM is quite encouraged with the result and consider our debut outing as successful and satisfactory. The party managed to raise many issues of public interest from housing, jobs, environment to basic facilities. We managed to distribute all our leaflets and the party also received tremendous financial aid from the public which offseted our deposit and helped us conduct a decent campaign. We are also proud to have carried out a clean, spirited campaign with no racial and religious elements.
The result of our outing will also encourage us to seek genuine partnership with other parties in the future as well as expand our base in Johor. We thank all the people who worked in our election machinery from party members, supporters, donors, NGOs and other political parties. The hard work was put in with no financial inducement; their spirit and courage has given us hope that we will persevere.
As the only party offering a socialist alternative and class based politics, we believe our presence in elections is vital and that it will take time for our initiatives to bear fruits. The fight goes on.
Struggle we will, win we shall!
S.Arutchelvan
PSM National Election Director
&
PSM Deputy Chairperson