Dyana will get Malay votes

PETALING JAYA: DAP will attract some Malay votes by fielding Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud in Teluk Intan but 70% of Malays polled by Oriental Daily News are unhappy that she is against implementing hudud in Kelantan, in line with her party's stand.
In a random sampling involving 40 Malay voters, the daily found that 57.5% of them believe that DAP's choice of a Malay candidate will help it win more supporters from the community.
At the same time, 72.5% of the respondents do not agree that Dyana Sofya, if elected, should toe the party line and vote against hudud in Parliament if the hudud bill is tabled, an indication that DAP's anti-hudud stand remains a major stumbling block in its bid to win Malay support.
Some 65% (25 respondents) are worried that the ideals of truth, equality and justice advocated by Dyana Sofya would affect bumiputra special rights.
A 38-year-old hawker identified only as Rasya said being a Malay, Dyana Sofya will appeal more to a small number of fence-sitting Malay voters compared with Barisan Nasional's Chinese candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong.
She said it is not the candidate but the party being represented that matters more. At present, many Malays are worried that their special rights would be threatened by DAP should it come to power, she added.
Contractor Azmi, 50, said as a Muslim, Dyana Sofya should support the implementation of hudud because it is an Islamic law, and one which does not affect non-Muslims.
To reject hudud, which the Malays in general deem necessary, will affect her support among the community, he opined.
Trader Faizal, 32, said it is inevitable that Dyana Sofya will score some points with her appearance but he believes voters will judge her based on her professional training.
It is worth noting that the majority of the respondents complained about the rise in prices of goods and the soon-to-be-introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST).