BN revolts in Johor simmer as candidature hopes fade

As the glimmer of hope to contest in the 13th general election fades and with nomination day only two days away, BN incumbents and aspiring politicians not picked as candidates are becoming increasingly bitter.

This is particularly apparent in the ruling coalition's bastion of Johor, where the tradition of internal sabotage in past general elections has had no bearing on the balance of powe. Until now.

Internal sabotage is rearing its ugly head again, larger this time, despite the southern state turning into a front-line battleground.

The most bitter situation seems to be over the state seat of Skudai, which Gerakan Pasir Gudang division chief Ker Ching Sheng (left) was slated to contest.

Ker today publicly flayed his Johor Gerakan chief, Teo Kok Chee, for surrendering the seat to the MCA.

Ker was even more bitter about having to make way for MCA’s Liang Ah Chy, who he said was not even a prominent figure locally.

“Who did we (BN) choose? Perhaps he (Liang) only has SPM level of education or is just an NGO leader. He is just an ordinary MCA member,” he said.

'Gelang Patah heating up fast'

While the squabble is at the state seat level, it could have wider implications as Skudai is under the Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency, where a battle of titans between DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and Umno’s incumbent Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman is to take place.

Ker cautioned that that the 3,000 Gerakan members in Skudai and 5,000 members across Gelang Patah may turn their backs on BN if  the seat is not returned to Gerakan.

“If they (Gerakan members) become emotional, they may vote against BN,” he warned at a press conference in Johor Baru today.

In the Chinese-majority parliamentary constituency of Gelang Patah itself, supporters of MCA’s local chief Jason Teoh (right) remain upset that the seat was handed over to Umno’s Ghani  to face off with DAP heavyweight Lim.

Having to deal with the MCA’s discontent, Gerakan’s latest revolt is no good news for Ghani.

However, Johor PKR chief Chua Jui Meng, who was initially supposed to contest in Gelang Patah before being asked to make way for Lim, acknowledged that the widely-respected incumbent menteri besar will pose a greater challenge than Teoh.

“Lim’s majority will likely be reduced but I believe he will still win - I know since I worked the ground there for four years,” Chua toldMalaysiakini in Segamat where he is now contesting.

However, Lim, too, is facing an increasingly uphill battle as it is unclear how the 12 percent Indian population in Gelang Patah will react to BN’s latest moving - the endorsing of Indian rights group Hindraf’s blueprint by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Umno veterans upset with new faces

In the parliamentary constituency of Sekijang, it was reported that supporters of incumbent MP Baharum Mohamed have shut down their operations rooms because their leader was not re-nominated.

The new candidate, 36-year-old Sekijang Umno Youth chief Anuar Abd Manap, acknowledged that his two-term predecessor wields significant influence there but said only a few of the 26 operation rooms in Sekijang were affected.

Anuar told Malaysiakini that Baharum’s supporters did not close the operations room but were not manning them either as they lobbied for their boss to be renominated before nomination day.

“As a young candidate, I can just be humble and I hope to meet Baharum to ask for his support,” said Anuar, who expressed confidence that Umno members there would close ranks after nomination day.

Another Umno revolt is in Pasir Gudang, where several divisions sought media coverage for a protest against newly-minted parliamentary candidate Normala Abd Samad on Tuesday. The protest was called off at the eleventh hour.

Caretaker Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin (above, left), the incumbent Pasir Gudang MP, has taken on the role of firefighter and will introduce Normala - who is also the Pasir Gudang Umno Wanita chief - in the constituency tonight.

Khaled, who is moving to the Permas state seat and is likely to be the new Johor menteri besar, similarly has had to play firefighter in January when unhappy members closed down nine operation rooms in Pasir Gudang after being irked by incumbent Johor Menteri Besar Ghani.

Ex-rep attempts to disqualify Puad

Meanwhile, in Batu Pahat where incumbent Puad Zarkashi will be defending the parliamentary seat, one of his predecessors is making a last-ditch attempt to have him disqualified as a candidate.

Siam Kasrin - who was the Batu Pahat MP in 1999 - lodged a police report today, and also filed a petition with the Johor Election Commission against Puad for contravening election regulations in the 2008 general election.

Siam, who was Puad's election representative in 2008, claimed that his boss at the time had submitted his statement of expenditure to the Election Commission without Siam's signature.

By not having his papers for the last general election in order, Siam (right) claimed that according to the rules, Puad cannot contest in this general election.

Johor Election Commission chief director Rokiah Hanum Ibrahim said the period for objections was over, but Siam insists that it is not too late.

Asked if he had a vendetta against Puad, Siam - who is also the former Batu Pahat Umno deputy chief - responded that his supporters would back anyone but Puad.

"We don't mind who becomes the candidate for Batu Pahat, but not Puad - he is a hypocrite," Siam told Malaysiakini when contacted. However, he refused to elaborate further on this.

While most of these Malay-majority seats have been traditional BN ‘fixed deposits’, the Chinese support for Pakatan Rakyat in Johor appears to have caught up with national trends since the last general election, and could be as high as 80 percent currently.

This means that BN cannot afford any sabotage and must maintain its Malay support of between 70 and 75 percent, or risk losing several seats if support from Indian voters is split equally between the two opposing coalitions.