Heat rises in Semenyih

Zainal Epi, Malay Mail Online

The temperature is rising in Semenyih as Pakatan Harapan (PH) steps up its campaign to regain lost ground before polling on Saturday.

Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shaari will share the stage with PH candidate Muhamad Aiman Zainali tonight, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tomorrow night, and Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad Thursday night.

PH is chasing after Opposition Barisan Nasional (BN), which has worked with PAS to gain ground among Malay voters losing patience with the PH government.

Both sides are chasing Malay voters in the 13 villages here who adore Malay leaders but are exposed to the national political intrigue.

BN and PAS, whose grassroots leaders are on the ground, know the issues to play up to win the voters’ hearts and minds. They are quick to capitalise on the dissent, putting them ahead of the ruling PH coalition.

PH, which put up a young engineer from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), has been able to penetrate the Malay areas but not to the level of ensuring victory.

Bersatu, without its own election machinery, is banking on Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) that does, but they started too late and are too slow.

Having failed to address issues raised by BN and PAS, the ruling coalition is now stepping up its campaign by bringing in heavyweights who may be able to turn the tide.

PH’s new Malaysia agenda does not seem to be gaining traction among the 36,857 Malay voters of the 54,503 total, and its failure to fulfill last year’s general election pledges puts BN ahead.

Added to PAS’s 7,000-odd followers, BN may just scrape through and defeat the defending PH as the ruling coalition’s fixed deposits comprising Chinese and Indians is just 17,000 voters, not enough to surpass the 50 per cent mark.

The last 11 days of campaigning saw the BN and PAS election machinery working shoulder to shoulder to target the Malay areas as both know the ground; Chinese and Indian voters will not vote for Malay-Islam based parties.

With three days to go and much ground to cover, PH is banking on Dr Mahathir’s charismatic leadership and Anwar’s oratory skill to attract the Malay voters who may still be undecided.

Whatever the odds, both sides are pushing hard until midnight Friday as much is at stake. A PH loss signals waning credibility among the Malays while a BN defeat means losing its momentum to rejuvenate.

The result will also affect the next by-election in Rantau, Negri Sembilan.