SHAH ALAM: The gains made by DAP, PKR, and Pas in the last general election is not an accurate reflection of the people's support for the opposition camp, said former Umno leader Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
Saifuddin, who left Umno in Oct for PKR, said he made the conclusion after studying the results of the 13th General Election two years ago.
"The last general election told us two things: the first, half of the voters voted for the opposition only because they did not support the government, and not because they wanted Pakatan.
"Secondly, half of the Malay voters don't want Umno, but if you don't vote for Umno, then who?" said Saifuddin when speaking during PKR's 11th national congress at the Ideal Convention Centre here, today.
Saifuddin said to overcome this, the new opposition pact needed to solve its internal disputes before "going to war" in the next general election.
"We cannot go to war alone. We need to unite and refrain from fighting each other. We need to resolve our differences without going to the media," said Saifuddin, who is now chief secretary of the Pakatan Harapan secretariat.
Saifuddin said in order to gain the people's true support, Pakatan Harapan needs to be a "moral compass" by formulating centrist policies to counter Barisan Nasional's rightist and racial policies.