‘Hard to capture Penang if Pak Lak retires’

It will be a tough fight for BN to retake Penang if the former premier's parliamentary seat and possibly two state constituencies fall to the opposition, says Penang Malay Congress.

GEORGE TOWN: Barisan Nasional may lose the Kepala Batas parliamentary seat in the coming general election if its incumbent and former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi decides to retire from active politics, says the Penang Malay Congress.

Its president, Rahmad Isahak, said with the loss of the parliamentary and possibly two state seats, it will be difficult for BN to regain Penang.

He said that political circles here believed that Abdullah, who is affectionately called “Pak Lah”, will “call it a day” once the current Parliament is dissolved.

This follows Pak Lah’s resignation as prime minister in 2009.

Abdullah has served as the Kepala Batas MP since 1978, and he is regarded as one of the most senior politicians in Penang and the country.

After Pak Lah’s exit, Penang Umno will not have leaders of calibre to fill the vacancy, Rahmad claimed.

“His [Pak Lah's] retirement may cause Umno to lose Kepala Batas parliamentary and perhaps two state seats to PAS,” he said.

There will also be a squabble among the local Umno faithful to contest Pak Lah’s seat as this is often the culture of the party, he added.

This would cause BN-Umno to lose rather than gain the seats in the next general election, which is scheduled to be held anytime from now until May next year, Rahmad said.

Until now, Umno has remained mum over the status of Pak Lah in Kepala Batas, he added.

It was reported earlier this year that Pak Lah was mulling retirement from the political scene.

Growing popularity

Rahmad was responding to a statement by Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that BN can win back Penang if Umno defends its present 11 state seats, while the coalition achieves its “3-3-3-1” formula.

The formula sees Umno winning three additional seats, MCA and Gerakan three seats each and MIC one seat to the existing 11.

Ahmad Zahid, the defence minister, was reported as saying that BN can form a minority state government with a simple majority of one seat if the formula succeeds.

Rahmad disagrees, saying for the formula to work, Umno has to be stronger than ever in Penang.

He doubts the Penang Malays would give their undivided support to Umno, as the community now knows that there are various options out there, from supporting Pakatan to backing alternative parties.

Also, he suspects that the Chinese and Indian communities would remain steadfast with Pakatan here, due to the growing popularity of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

This makes it harder for BN to regain ground and it would be worst if a stalwart like Pak Lah retires, he said.

Pakatan now controls Penang with 29 state seats out of the 40, with DAP having 19, PKR nine and PAS one while Umno has the remaining 11.