GE14 | DAP has been the second biggest party in the Perak legislative assembly for two consecutive terms and at one point, in 2008, the party even nominated a Chinese for the position of menteri besar.

The prospect of a Chinese menteri besar, said Perak Pakatan Harapan chief Ahmad Faizal Azumu, still haunts much of Perak's Malay populace.

For this reason, Faizal appealed to Perak DAP not to field a Malay candidate for the coming legislative assembly election.

"I honestly think that with this perception of DAP by the Malays, DAP should not, at this time, field any Malay candidate in the state.

"If the party going to field Malay candidates in Perak, then it will likely send the signal to the Malay voters that DAP wants to lead the state government.

"If you want to win, if you want a Malay vote swing, don't do that," Faizal told Malaysiakini in a recent interview.

Scared of DAP

In the immediate aftermath of the 2008 general election, the coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS that was about to form a new government, could not agree on the candidate for the post of menteri besar.

PKR, DAP and PAS all nominated their own menteri besar candidates and left the final choice to the discretion of the Perak palace, which eventually chose Mohamad Nizar Jamaludin of PAS - the party with the smallest number of seats on the government bench.

However, Nizar's term was short-lived after three defections from the fledgling Pakatan Rakyat coalition allowed BN to return to power. By then, Nizar's reputation among Malays had already been damaged by accusations that he was a DAP stooge.

Although Umno secured the most number of seats in the Perak Legislative Assembly in both the 2008 and 2013 general elections, Faizal said DAP's ability to win 100 percent of the state and parliamentary seats in Perak had an effect on the Malay psyche.

Faizal said that he, too, had an innate fear of DAP when he was an Umno member.

"I was one of them of who was scared of DAP because I never knew them. I thought if DAP was in power, the Malay will "mati" (die)," he said.

A lesson learned?

Faizal, 48, who is now the head of Bersatu Perak and the party's Tambun division head, said that he has been working with DAP and realised that these fears of his were unfounded.

"I went to Penang, the azan (call for prayer) was louder than Perak's in some areas... look at Penang, how many Malay "mati"?" he asked rhetorically.

Although Faizal and his Bersatu colleagues now understand DAP's position better, shedding DAP's image as a bogeyman among Malay voters has been a challenge.

For example, he and his colleagues found themselves having to repeatedly explain to Malay voters that DAP's most recognisable face – Lim Kit Siang – did not aspire to be prime minister.

"Maybe I can't convince all of them but elections are not about getting 100 percent of the votes. It is about one side getting more seats than the other side," he said.

Should Harapan form the next Perak government, Faizal believes that the menteri besar candidate ought to be from his party, by virtue of Harapan's decision to let Bersatu lead in Perak.

However, he said, the “who will MB” topic has yet to be discussed and should there be a need to nominate a menteri besar, a decision would be made through consensus among the four coalition partners.

Yesterday: It’s swim or sink for Harapan in Sungai Perak