BN, PR tussle over Selangor prize
On the whole, however. Selangor, the most fought after state by both BN and PR, saw relatively smooth campaigning from both sides, with only a few reports of violence. The many independents contesting the seats – both parliament and state – added to the colour of the 13th general election. But the main fights remained between BN and PR.
YOU could say that Barisan Nasional (BN) started campaigning in Selangor beginning in February, when BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak was appointed state election director. His appointment was a clarion call for the coalition to redouble its efforts to wrest Selangor back from Pakatan Rakyat.
The state’s importance to BN could also be seen in the Selangor BN Manifesto, which was launched two days before nomination day on April 20. The manifesto contained a whole list of pledges of goodies and services covering every imaginable spectrum and designed to appeal to the rakyat, including free water and affordable homes.
PR had earlier unveiled its manifesto for this state and the similarities between the two had both sides accusing each of plagiarism.
On the whole, however. Selangor, the most fought after state by both BN and PR, saw relatively smooth campaigning from both sides, with only a few reports of violence. The many independents contesting the seats – both parliament and state – added to the colour of the 13th general election. But the main fights remained between BN and PR.
Pakatan has been quite vocal about what it believes will be massive cheating by BN come polling day. Their concerns are especially focused on the 134,675 newly registered voters from 2008 in the state, some of whom, they allege, were registered without their knowledge. Attempts to get the Election Commission, and subsequently the courts, to look into the fraudulent registration claims in the gazetted electoral roll have however failed.
Still, the campaigning period has been an interesting one in Selangor. Caretaker prime minister Najib has made repeated trips – more than five times in two weeks – to different parts of the state to personally boost the BN candidates.
PR, on the other hand, did not really draw their big guns here – DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng made a few appearances – and instead they brought out one of Umno’s old guns to stir the pot. Former MB Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib, now a new PAS member, did cause some stir with his rather strange rantings about Jews and Christians, but his impact was rather limited to a few Malay majority areas that were his former stomping grounds.
It was also obvious that PR candidates made sure that Selangorians have the full facts of the successes of caretaker MB Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and his government officials. The management of the state’s coffers was bandied at every ceramah. The manifestos not only promised they will do better than what they have done for the past five years but that they will be fulfilling the promises that they have yet to fulfil as promised in the GE12.
One of the biggest gambles of PR in Selangor was moving caretaker MB Khalid to Port Klang from Ijok.
As Khalid was instrumental in managing the state coffers for the past five years, this was seen as a strategy to boost Khalid’s popularity which has been declining among Selangorians for his hard stance. Khalid has been accused of being more of a corporate man than a politician while he was the MB.
Should Khalid win in Port Klang, it would be an endorsement of his managerial skills as MB, but if he were to lose, it would clear the way for others jostling for the position.
PR also did not wait to dig for dirt when it accused five of the Selangor BN candidates of having degrees from the milling universities. But that led nowhere and even PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli – himself a candidate for the Pandan constituency – seemed strangely quiet.
In Selangor, the issue of overlapping candidacy also cropped up in Kota Damansara where PKR and PAS candidates faced off each other in a six-way fight with Barisan Nasional and Independent candidates. The matter was soon resolved with PAS Ridzuan Ismail being asked to give way to PSM’s head Dr Nasir Hashim, who was contesting under the PKR banner.
But there was no such resolution in Semenyih, where PSM and PKR fought over who should stand for the state seat. In the end, S Arutchelvam of PSM – who had earlier said that he was PR-friendly – is now facing off against Hamidi Hasan of PKR and BN’s Johan Abdul Aziz for the state seat. BN had a few missteps as well, not the least the choice of candidate for Shah Alam. By putting Datuk Zulkifli Noordin of Perkasa against PAS’ moderate incumbent Khalid Samad, Najib probably thought to appeal to the Malay majority voters – many who are young – in the constituency.
But it backfired as Zulkifli proved to be a polarising choice, with even MIC members protesting against the man who had repeatedly insulted non-Muslims. Attempts to portray Zulkifli as having “repented” too didn’t gain much traction.
