BN set to retake Galas but what reward for Ku Li?

KUALA LUMPUR: The Barisan Nasional (BN) is set to retake the Galas state seat, which it lost in March 2008 general election by a majority of 646 votes to PAS.

With Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah leading the charge for the upcoming by-election, observers and politicians of both sides of the political divide have given the Gua Musang MP the “thumps-up”, given his background as a credible and dependable leader of the parliamentary constituency, which he has held since 1971. Galas comes under the Gua Musang parliamentary seat.

PAS is aware that its “tyres are stuck in the Galas mud” and is understandibly worried with Razaleigh on the stump. Hence, the Islamist party is trying to get the once popular finance minister to lay off the by-election.

Ku Li, as he is fondly known, is not without flaws when he agreed to head the by-election machinery, but the flaws are too small to be exploited by the opposition.

The only big issue, if it can be considered as such, is that he had agreed to be a witness for the Kelantan government in its suit against the federal government over the oil royalty case. How he is going to handle this matter is a big question mark.

But to observers as well those who are still loyal to Ku Li, the matter is too small for the Kelantan prince to bother about. The two issues – leading the campaign for BN in the by-election and the suit against federal government – are totally different in nature. Using Galas as a platform, Ku Li is in a better position to explain his stand on the suit.

With Ku Lu directing the campaign, PAS will find itself in a tight corner. The party cannot hit out at the prince because it might lose its “star” witness. At the same time, whatever PAS leaders say about the oil royalty issue can be used against it by the federal government when the case comes up for hearing.

Then again, if PAS does not go on the offensive against Ku Li, the party would have no issue to play up – and this would be bad for its campaign strategy.

PKR, DAP no role to play

In fact, there are no substantial issues in Galas for any political party to harp on. Falling under Gua Musang, Galas has some 11,000-odd voters, with Chinese comprising 23%. The Chinese mostly run the small businesses in the town and are also involved in logging activities.

The 2,000-odd Orang Asli in the constituency are loyal to Ku Li and it is unlikely that the PAS Islamic ideology will have any impact on them.

That leaves the remaining 55% who are Malay voters toiling the land owned by Kesedar (Kelantan Selatan Development Authority) and doing odd-jobs. This group of voters are more or less equally divided between PAS and Umno.

As for PAS partners, PKR and DAP, the two parties do not have any role to play in the campaign as they do not have supporters or followers among the voters.

Similarly, the other BN parties -- MCA, Gerakan and MIC – also do not have any bit part to play in the hustle and bustle of the campaign.

What reward for Ku Li?

The battle is mainly between Umno and PAS.

Galas is cut off from the modern world; it is very much a rural constituency shielded by the green hills and immune from the “corrupting” influence of outsiders.

Thus, the contest will narrow down to a duel between Ku Li and Kelantan PAS, and not even with Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

Ku Li is considered a formidable opponent, who still commands the allegiance of the Kelantanese voters. When he formed Semangat 46 in 1989 and stood for general election in 1990, Gua Musang voters followed him without question.

Given such a background, PAS will have to move cautiously. It is aware that it cannot smear Ku Li as this might backfire. The Islamist party can only hope – and pray – that Ku Li would not put his whole heart and soul into the campaign.

And for Umno, the crucial question is: what reward has it in store for Ku Li if he delivers Galas on the silver platter for BN?

courtesy of FMT