D-Day for MIC with Bagan Pinang by-election

ARCHIVES 2009

By MT Webmaster On Sep 18, 2009

Bagan Pinang by-election will show if Indians have returned to party

Samy Vellu is not about to take Bagan Pinang flippantly, especially after the MIC had been told by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to close ranks and work hard to regain the support of the Indian community after its intensely fought party elections.

Frankie D'Cruz, Malay Mail

INDIAN and postal votes will be decisive in the attention grabbing Bagan Pinang by-election that will also put the MIC to a bigger test.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and his army have a huge task ahead in the lead-up to polling on Oct 11, having to prove the party’s claim that Indians have begun to return to its fold.

They aren’t wasting time. On Tuesday, they toured four Indian-majority areas in Ladang Siliau, Ladang Atherton, Ladang Sua Betong and Ladang Bradwall, which have 1,890 of the 2,834 registered Indian voters that form 19.9 per cent of the electorate.

Bagan Pinang is an Umno stronghold situated within the Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency, represented by PKR’s Datuk Kamarul Baharin Abbas.

Apart from Bagan Pinang, Umno also won the neighbouring Linggi State seat in last year’s election, while PR controls three other State seats in Teluk Kemang — Chuah (PKR), Lukut (DAP) and Port Dickson (PKR).

“The MIC has to put behind its spat with Umno and attacks on Dr Mahathir and look towards securing the Indian vote,” said political analyst S. Ravindran.

“We will see if the MIC is considered an exclusive club that many say it has now come to be or a party for the Indian community.

“Personally, I don’t see the mandate given by party delegates to Samy Vellu and his men translating into support of the whole Indian community.”

He said Barisan Nasional would consider Samy Vellu’s presence in Bagan Pinang a risk and would hope that there is no repeat of Bukit Selambau.

While it will be Datuk G. Palanivel’s first task after being re-elected as deputy president to spearhead the MIC campaign in Bagan Pinang, defeated deputy presidential candidate Datuk S. Sothinathan said he would be actively campaigning there too.

Samy Vellu said Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S.Subramaniam and the other two vice-presidents, Datuk S.K. Devamany, who is Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, and Datuk M. Saravanan, the Deputy Federal Territories Minister, would each head a team for the polls.

“They will mobilise hundreds of party Youth and Wanita members to assist families (of voters) by staying with them. I will oversee the running of the entire team to ensure a victory for Barisan Nasional,” Samy Vellu said.

He said the MIC would adopt a different strategy to woo Indian voters and identify “hot spots” based on the last general election.

Sothinathan, who is former Teluk Kemang Member of Parliament and the party’s Teluk Kemang division chief, said: “I know the turf very well and will do all I can to ensure BN defends Bagan Pinang.

“I too want to prove that the Indians are beginning to return to the MIC and am already on the ground,” said the former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment who lost the Teluk Kemang parliamentary seat in 2008.

He said he expects an onslaught by PR, which launched its campaign for the by-election on Wednesday night with a ceramah by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at Kampung Si Rusa, Port Dickson.

Anwar harped on postal voting which he said, if conducted fairly, will lean towards PR. There are 13,664 voters in the State constituency, with postal voters making up more than one-third or some 4,600 of the electorate.

The Bagan Pinang vote is widely expected to end PR’s winning streak in all by-elections in the peninsula since last year’s general election due to the high number of postal voters that are traditionally considered a reliable vote bank for the BN.

Anwar said postal voting should be conducted in the presence of polling agents from political parties and that the Election Commission should reverse its current practice.

Nomination for the Bagan Pinang by-election will be on Oct 3 while polling has been set for Oct 11.

The by-election was called following the death on Sept 4 of Umno’s Azman Mohammad Noor, who defeated Pas’s Ramli Ismail by some 2,000 votes last year.

CRUNCH NUMBERS

POSTAL votes could be crucial in Bagan Pinang. Some facts:
● Postal voters make up more than one-third or some 4,600 of the electorate.
● Pusasda (Pusat Latihan Asas Tentera Darat) Kem Si Rusa has close to 2,000 postal voters.
● Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reiterated PR’s stand for greater transparency in the postal voting process, traditionally conducted without the presence of polling agents from political parties.
● Polling is conducted in army camps and police stations.
● In the 2008 general election, Pas obtained 1,189 or 25 per cent of the postal votes.

Indians in Bagan Pinang

Despite being banned, Hindraf is said to have many followers among the 19.9 per cent or 2,834 Indians out of Bagan Pinang’s 13,664 voters.

● Indians in Bagan Pinang too did not hesitate to give their votes to Pas in the last general election;
● Pas won in three of the four polling districts where the majority voters are Indians — Ladang Atherton
(81 per cent Indians), Ladang Siliau (76 per cent) and Ladang Sua Betong (67 per cent).
● Ladang Siliau, Ladang Atherton, Ladang Sua Betong and Ladang Bradwall, have 1,890 of the 2,600 registered Indian voters
● In Ladang Bradwall, where 66 per cent voters are Indians, Pas lost by only two votes.
● A MIC survey has shown up to 2,000 Indian voters were no longer staying in the constituency but were residing in nearby areas, with 40 per cent living and working in Seremban, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru.
● Many Indians are said to be taking the middle path as they are not happy with both coalitions in handling
issues related to the Indian community.
● Malays comprise 62.77 per cent or 8,577 voters, Chinese 10.96 per cent or 1,498 voters and the remaining 5.54 per cent or 755 have been categorised as others.