Battle to win over the fence sitters
Umno youth believes 50% of Penangites have yet to decide which way they will vote in the general election
Hawkeye, FMT
Penang Umno Youth believes that 50% of about one million registered voters in the state have yet to make up their minds on who they will support in the next general election.
The battle for the hearts and minds of voters is between incumbents, Pakatan Rakyat, led by DAP and BN, with a handful of alternative political voices trying to create an upset.
State Umno Youth head, Sheikh Hussein Mydin, said the feedback from certain quarters showed that over 50% of the voters here remained as fence sitters.
“We believed that out of the remaining 50%, about 25% are Pakatan loyalists while the remainder are BN supporters or members.”
Sheikh Hussein said in view of the high number of fence sitters, DAP cannot claim that it has consummated all support from the Chinese.
“Likewise, Umno also cannot claim that it has the undivided support of the Malay voters,” said Sheikh Hussein.
“We hope that Pakatan can shed the arrogance plaguing their administration. Be humble as voters here can swing either way. The pendulum theory works well in Penang.”
After the 1990 general election, DAP had denied BN its customary two-thirds in the state legislative assembly, causing a surprise when DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang defeated the then Chief Minister, the late Lim Chong Eu in the Padang Kota state seat.
When the 1995 election emerged, DAP was poised to either repeat its electoral performance or capture Penang but it didn’t materialise.
History may repeat itself
Instead, the voters handed DAP a crushing defeat with pundits placing the blame on Kit Siang’s overly aggressive campaign of using the “Robocop” posters to intimidate voters.
History may repeat itself, as Kit Siang’s son Lim Guan Eng, the present CM is said to be waging an aggressive campaign of his own, bordering on arrogance, Sheikh Hussein claimed.
Nonetheless, BN has adjusted well to its role of opposition, Sheikh Hussein said, adding that the only drawback is that Guan Eng and his leaders apparently cannot stomach criticism.
