WHILE the battle cry has begun, supporters of political parties must realise that we are fellow Malaysians.
At Pagoh, Johor, Perikatan Nasional (PN) supporters and Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters yelled at each other perompak (robbers) and penyamun (bandits) and katak (political frogs).
At the end of the day, the rakyat want to see what both sides are capable of doing for the country. This is more important than all the jeering of each other.
Hot seats
There are several important parliamentary seats that will be closely watched – one of which is the four-cornered fight between Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Perak Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, UMNO’s Datuk Aminuddin Md Hanafiah and Gerakan Tanah Air’s (GTA) Abdul Rahim Tahir.
Recall that the Tambun seat was a stronghold of UMNO – between 1995 and 2018, it was held by Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah for five consecutive terms before the former finance minister II lost it to PH’s Ahman Faizal who is popularly known as Peja in 2013.
Ahmad Husni was a good UMNO MP but the same cannot be said of Aminuddin who was a state assemblyman. We have to remember that Ahmad Husni was also a key witness in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd’s) trial.
Dropping Ahmad Husni from Tambun would mean a loss of votes for BN in the constituency.
However, since then, Peja who is Bersatu deputy president – like former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Bersatu president Tan Seri Muhyiddin Yasin and Parti Bangsa Malaysia’s (PBM) president designate Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin – had defected to join PN.
Therefore, although Peja won the Tambun seat on PH’s ticket in 2018 by about 6% votes over the incumbent, Husni, it is unlikely that he will be able to retain his seat, especially since he will be banking solely on PAS’ votes.
It is unlikely that GTA would make much impact for a constituency that is semi-urban as the party continues to rely on two-time PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s waning popularity. His is a passing generation.
Down to two
The battle is likely to be fiercest between BN’s Aminuddin who is a protege of Husni himself and Anwar.
There is a high chance that Anwar will win the seat without much difficulty considering that Aminuddin is the only major contender.
However, this will be largely dependent on how the Undi18 votes swing and whether there will be a strong turnout in the constituency compared to 2018.
Every vote for Aminuddin is in fact a vote for UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the 10th PM. This is a game plan that will eventually allow Anwar the edge over the BN chairman who is also the man behind the call for the 15th General Election (GE15) amid the current monsoon season. – Nov 6, 2022
Stephen Ng
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
