CAN the MIC regain more seats this time around with the intention of contesting the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat in what the party claims to be a ‘winnable seat’? The Teluk Intan seat which was held by Datuk Seri Mah Siew Kong of Gerakan was lost to DAP’s Nga Kor Ming during the 14th general election (GE14) held in 2018.
The seat has been traditionally contested by the Gerakan and DAP since the 7th general election in 1986. Since Gerakan is no longer part of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and has joined Perikatan Nasional effective in 2021, the MIC has instead been placed to wrest the constituency back from the DAP to BN.
That begs the question if Gerakan would field its candidate to contest the Teluk Intan seat under its Perikatan Nasional coalition? This is going to be a very interesting election at least when it comes to the Teluk Intan seat because this time around we may see a three-cornered fight against three component parties, namely BN, Perikatan Nasional and DAP.
Will this be a ‘hot’ seat? MIC’s intention to contest the seat also means that the BN component party is really working hard to win the hearts of the Teluk Intan folks especially the Indian community. We can certainly expect more allocations for the Indian community there in the hopes of votes.
But what about the Teluk Intan folks? The fact of the matter that DAP’s Nga won the seat during the last elections is a prediction of where the inclination of the Teluk Intan people is when it comes to casting their vote.
Nga, although just a term in this constituency, is doing a fine job in helping the people of Teluk Intan uplift their lives. Recently, Nga, who is also DAP Perak chairman, allocated RM60,000 to the relief and repair works of the Lorong Masjid Jetty in Kampung Bahagia in order for the fishermen there to continue with their livelihoods.
“Without safe infrastructure for the fishermen, it would be hard to elevate their economical status and income. A jetty with major impairment issues is dangerous to the fishermen and all those occupying the jetty. This has caused major worry among the community hence ruining their major economic activity and source of income,” said Nga in DAP’s mouth piece Rocket Kini on April 2020.
The mandate was returned to DAP’s Nga during the last elections as many were fed up with the BN rule for 50 years. Now, the MIC is expected to field its vice president Datuk T. Murugiah in Teluk Intan. However, the fielding of the candidate has yet to be confirmed by the MIC.
FMT quoted political analyst Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid who said that the party would have to prove to still have the support of the Indian community while its decision to not contest its traditional Cameron Highlands seat would be a tough one for the party.
“In politics, where you survive on bargaining among coalition partners, once you give up a seat like Cameron Highlands … I think it will be very difficult for MIC to get that seat back as UMNO thinks it can win with a convincing majority.
“Now, MIC has to prove to UMNO that it still has strong support among the Indian community – which I think is true, unlike MCA and the Chinese community,” he was quoted as saying by the news portal.
In 2019, a by-election was held in Cameron Highlands after the court annulled MIC’s Datuk C. Sivaraajh candidacy during GE14 for vote buying. UMNO candidate and the country’s first Orang Asli MP Datuk Ramli Mohd Noor claimed victory with a majority of 3,238 votes.
Only the tough will survive come GE15, who will convince the people of Teluk Intan that they are here to stay and fight their battles, is it DAP or MIC? – Oct 13, 2022
Main photo credit: MIC.org
