00:00A political analyst has played down Gerakan's ambitions to shift the political narrative in Malaysia away from race and religion,
00:09saying the party will find it hard to escape identity politics as a perikatan nasional component.
00:16Syelza Shukri of International Islamic University Malaysia said Gerakan would have a stronger basis for this endeavour if the party was working with Pakatan Harapan.
00:27She said as long as Gerakan remained a PN component alongside Bersatu, PAS and the Malaysian Indian People's Party, it would continue to find itself linked to racial and religious issues.
00:40On Saturday, Gerakan President Dominic Lau said Malaysians were largely tired of political parties playing up religious or racial issues.
00:49He said his party would focus on universal concerns of the economy, education, health, good governance, cultural harmony, digital transformation, security and peace, youth empowerment and employment.
01:04Another analyst, Lau Ze Wei also of IIUM, said Gerakan's ambition was nothing new as the push to move beyond race and religion had already been championed by parties like PKR, DAP and MUDA.
01:19However, he said it could be a new strategy from Gerakan to increase its support to get the Chinese votes.
