Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has disputed a news report which claims that Malays are outnumbered 40 to 1 when it comes to newly-registered voters since 2008.

“The numbers were not right,” he said when quizzed by reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

He said this when asked about Pakatan Rakyat's criticisms against Berita Harian over its front-page report on Monday which warned that Malays were at risk of losing political power because Malay youths are not registering as voters.

Ironically, the report was based on information provided by Umno Youth membership and voter registration bureau chief Hishamudin Yahya, who claimed that the bureau conducted a study on the topic.

Pakatan leaders disputed the figures and claimed that there was a concerted effort between Umno Youth and the press to fan racial sentiments.

KJ unfamiliar with bureau's 'study'

Khairy said he had spoken to Hishamudin and the latter has admitted that he had got the facts wrong.

To another question, Khairy (left) said he was unaware how Hishamudin produced the figures.

However, Khairy said that there was evidence that new voter registration among non-Malays were on the rise over the past few months, but was unable to provide figures.

On Tuesday, Berita Harian again highlighted the issue on its front page, this time quoting Election Commission deputy chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar crediting DAP for the spike in Chinese voter registration.

Wan Ahmad said that the Umno Youth study was “accurate” but did not provide figures.

He added that there are an estimated 4.3 million Malaysians who are eligible to register themselves as voters but had yet to do so.

(Source: Malaysiakini)