DAP’s full-scale assault on Johor may be a misadventure
Zainal Epi, Malay Mail Online
Pakatan Harapan (PH) has begun its Johor campaign in earnest with the DAP heading the charge by moving its candidates “who are Johor-born” to constituencies deemed “winnable.”
Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong will go head to head against MCA’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong for the Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat while Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin is expected to take on MIC president Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam in Segamat where the incumbent retained the seat by just 1,217 votes in the 2013 general election, a further decline from 2,991 votes in the 2008 general election.
While Segamat is seen as vulnerable, DAP’s victory is solely dependent on the Malay and Chinese voters — both at 45 per cent of the population — as Indians make up just 10 per cent.
Liew won the Kluang parliamentary seat in 2013 on the wave of the Chinese tsunami and now he has been given the mammoth task of defeating MCA’s No. 2 man in Ayer Hitam.
The state, long considered the bastion of Umno, has been in DAP’s sights since the last general election.
At that time, PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) failed to get the Malays to join them; Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) are now attempting to rectify the situation.
DAP seems to be a bit overconfident that the sustained Chinese tsunami and the supposedly Malay one — brought about by the hype over Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s support from the Malays and even some Umno members and supporters — will do the trick this time round.
They are also banking on Liew’s popularity while choosing to ignore the fact that Wee won by a majority of more than 7,000 votes. DAP has also not taken into account the reality that within the Malay heartland of Johor, race and religion still matters.
Malay voters in Johor see the Opposition pact of PH as DAP-dominant rather than Dr Mahathir-led while the question of religion may prove to be a stumbling block for Amanah and PPBM.
Even PPBM’s president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is said to be in a dilemma despite his putting on a brave front; he has not decided whether to stay and defend his Pagoh parliamentary seat or move to Muar where he is said to have a much better chance of winning.
Muhyiddin’s hold in Pagoh is loosening as Umno moved fast to cut him off from the grassroots when he was expelled from the party in 2016. This now puts him in a dilemma as he has no election machinery to depend on to retain the seat.
He may find comfort in Muar given the Chinese voters there are said to still support the DAP and the current MP Datuk Razali Ibrahim is still trying to win more support.
Amanah’s deputy president Sallehuddin Ayub is in an even worse position as he knows he and the party have yet to truly make a mark in the political scene in Johor.
The party is considered irrelevant in Johor and this means they won’t be able to help DAP in any way.
Given this scenario, DAP’s full-scale assault on Johor may just be a miscalculated gamble or worse, a political misadventure.
