BN out to keep iron grip on Selangor rural base
The Straits Times reported that for now, neither side has an overwhelming advantage. The BN has been marred by corruption, with its former mentri besar convicted of fraud. But the PR has been sullied by internal quarrels between Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s right-hand man, Azmin Ali.
The Malaysian Insider
DAP candidate Ng Suee Lim knows he has a tough fight on his hands in defending his Sekinchan state seat in the coastal farming and fishing belt in Selangor. His majority in the 2008 general election was a wafer-thin 190 votes.
“People here want to see you face to face, and we need to build relationships day by day,” Ng, who speaks Javanese, having grown up in Sekinchan, a village of Malays of Javanese descent, told the Singapore Straits Times.
To make sure people know him, he carries a giant replica of a ballot paper with an “X” next to his name and the rocket symbol on his campaigns.
According to the daily, Ng is literally going from house to house, in between phone calls to the local council to get street lights repaired in response to residents’ complaints. It is a far cry from urban campaigns, which rely on mass rallies and the Internet.
The report said this was the main reason the federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has found it hard to make inroads into the rural areas, even in Selangor, Malaysia’s most urbanised and industrialised state.
Other than PAS, the opposition does not have a grassroots network to rival the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), which has built up its ground since the 1950s. This has helped it maintain an iron grip over its rural base.
In 2008, PR surprised everyone by winning Selangor, taking 36 of 56 state seats, though one later turned independent.
The Straits Times reported that other than Ng’s seat, PR seats are in a tight urban swathe near Kuala Lumpur.
It said the densely urban areas may stay with the PR. Since last Saturday, when the campaign kicked off, urban opposition rallies have drawn the crowds, it added.
The BN has not bothered with these hardcore opposition areas but is aiming to hold on to its rural seats while trying to snatch PR’s seats on the fringe of urban areas, the daily said.
Subahan Kamal, BN candidate for Templer, which sits on the outskirts, believes the BN can do better in such areas.
“We have promised welfare payments for the disabled, elderly, single mothers, and also aid for students. We are going to build 15,000 affordable houses,” the daily quoted him as saying.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak spent a full day in Selangor yesterday, whizzing through 16 stops on the outskirts to woo voters.
The Straits Times reported that for now, neither side has an overwhelming advantage. The BN has been marred by corruption, with its former mentri besar convicted of fraud. But the PR has been sullied by internal quarrels between Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s right-hand man, Azmin Ali.
