Bagan Pinang, where the past looms over the future
The question remains whether Bagan Pinang voters are outraged enough by these seemingly far removed national issues and would prefer to see what an alternative to BN can do for them. Bagan Pinang voters will make their crucial call on Oct 11.
By Chua Sue-Ann, The Edge
While the stage is set in Bagan Pinang for an Umno strongman to take on a lesser known PAS state chief, the battle to win the hearts and minds of voters will largely see a tussle between issues of the past and the future.
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has been quick to cast the state polls as a showdown between the country’s political past and the future.
“(It is a contest) between the politics of corruption, injustice and oppression prevalent… and the politics of integrity, justice and freedom struggling to be born after the March 8 political tsunami,” Lim said in a statement.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have wasted no time in attacking Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad’s previous money politics record.
Isa was sacked as Umno vice-president and suspended from the party for three years from June 24, 2005 for his involvement in money politics during the 2004 party election. He also lost his ministership.
Last week, PR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider that the opposition coalition had no intention of exploiting Isa’s past in its bid to wrest the Bagan Pinang seat.
This issue is expected to repeatedly crop up during the eight days of campaigning but Isa’s candidacy is an indication that BN is betting on a “sure-win” to end PR’s winning streak in Peninsular Malaysia since the general election last year.
BN has begun to downplay Isa’s tainted history, focusing instead on his credentials as a local leader having served as menteri besar and Teluk Kemang division chief.
PR leaders, meanwhile, have cast their candidate Negri Sembilan PAS commissioner Zulkefly Mohamad Omar as a simple grassroots man as well as a desirable leader for the future Malaysia.
Met after his candidacy was announced, the 44-year-old local businessman declined to make personal comments on Isa’s past.
While observers have noted that PR’s unprecedented results during the 12th general election was a vote against the ruling coalition, it cannot rely on the same dissatisfaction to win future contests, especially in an Umno stronghold like Bagan Pinang.
In the last general election, deceased BN/Umno incumbent for Bagan Pinang Azman Mohammad Noor defeated PAS candidate Ramli Ismail with a 2,333-vote majority.
Notably, Ramli had succeeded in reducing BN’s majority from 4,411 in the 2004 general election to 2,333 while wrangling 1,189 or 25% of postal votes.
There are 13,644 people registered to cast their ballots in Bagan Pinang including 4,604 postal voters from a nearby military base, which is considered a vote bank for BN.
Zulkefly now has a mammoth task of widening or at least defending the 25% postal votes PAS obtained last year. Zulkefly contested and lost the Lenggeng state seat last year to Umno’s Mustapha Salim by a 1,285 majority.
Bagan Pinang has 8,577 or 62.77% Malay voters, setting the stage for a crucial battle between PAS and Umno to prove it still has the support of the Malay community.
During the Manek Urai by-election, Umno narrowly lost by a surprising 65 votes to PAS in the Malay-majority area, boosting the former’s claim of Malay support.
Capitalising on Isa’s tainted past and by extension, Umno and BN’s credibility, may not be effective in endearing undecided voters and the Malaysian public to the PR’s larger political ideology.
It remains to be seen if local issues — particularly education, religion and development — would receive due prominence in both Umno and PAS campaigns.
The non-Malays in Bagan Pinang make up over 35% of voters, comprising 20.74% (2,834 voters) Indians, 10.96% (1,498) Chinese and 5.54% (755) of other races.
Contentious issues including the death of detainee A Kugan in police detention, the Shah Alam “cow head” protest against a Hindu temple’s relocation and educational opportunities are expected to make their way to the Indian voters in Bagan Pinang.
Meanwhile, the opposition will likely leverage on issues such as political secretary Teoh Beng Hock’s unexpected death, vernacular education and the crisis within MCA to win Chinese support.
The question remains whether Bagan Pinang voters are outraged enough by these seemingly far removed national issues and would prefer to see what an alternative to BN can do for them. Bagan Pinang voters will make their crucial call on Oct 11.
