PETALING JAYA (April 2): Even though Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has a good chance of retaining the Klang parliamentary seat in the upcoming 13th General Election, its grip on the three state seats which fall under the constituency is slippery.
Essentially, the main weakness of the Pakatan representatives in this area is that they have not been servicing their constituencies effectively, say political leaders with an intimate knowledge of the situation.
A more damaging issue is the case of a Klang municipal councillor who had allegedly misused the letterhead of the state exco member Ronnie Liu to award contracts to the councillor's friends and family. Liu is also the assembly member for Pandamaran.
The consequence of this alleged folly is not lost on Klang MCA division chief Datuk Dr Teh Kim Poo, who told fz.com: "Ronnie Liu does not hold sway over Pandamaran voters today. The talk of the town today is that if Ronnie Liu come again this time, sure die."
In July 2010, it was reported that Klang Municipal Councillor Tee Boon Hock had allegedly misused Liu's official Selangor exco member letterhead to secure contracts for his friends and a family member.
Tee had claimed Liu had authorised him as his special assistant to use the letterhead, which prompted DAP to also investigate Liu on the allegations.
The DAP disciplinary committee had later sacked Tee in September 2010.
Teh had a similar prediction for Kota Alam Shah assembly member M Manoharan.
"Manoharan is again inviting himself to be arrested," said Teh, referring to Manoharan's detention under the now-defunct Internal Security Act in 2009.
"Every speech he has made has been about sensitive racial issues. He is dreaming to win again in prison," he said.
Manoharan has been seen to actively champion Indian community issues, which might cause him to lose some favour among members of other communities.
Also weighing against Manoharan is his record of saying the wrong things, such as the disparaging remarks he made about badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei on Twitter for losing out on the gold medal in last year's London Olympics Games.
Manoharan had apologised for making the remarks but considerable damage had already been done.
If anything, the outlook for Badrul Hisham Abdullah, the Port Klang assembly member, looks even more bleak. The local people have been complaining loudly that Badrul Hisham has gone incognito since he won the seat in 2008 on a PKR ticket.
Pressure had grown on the PKR leadership to boot Badrul Hisham out of the party, but he pre-empted such action by quitting in 2009. Currently, he is identified as a BN-friendly independent, but his political future looks gloomy.
All this is putting a strain on Klang MP Charles Santiago, under whose constituency the three state seats fall. Charles, from the DAP, has been left to pick up the slack from the three assembly members and help to solve local issues like drainage and flooding problems.
The added burden has weighed heavily on Charles, who not only has to grapple with local problems, but also handle national issues.
As a result, Charles is getting a mixed report card from his constituents. Some say he is effective in tackling the people's problems, while others complain that they rarely see him in the constituency.
But the Achilles' heel for Charles is his strained relationship with the Chinese community, who make up close to half the electorate in Klang.
A DAP member who spoke to fz.com on condition of anonymity said that Charles is not seen to be generous with handouts to the clan associations.
"I know Chinese associations never really invite him for their functions," he said.
Ironically, Charles has inherited the problem of political patronage from the BN, although the opposition has always attempted to present itself as their polar opposite.
Chinese associations, which have been closely linked to MCA over the five decades of the BN's administration, wield a significant amount of power in Klang, as its members are also part of the business fraternity.
Klang has more than 20 Chinese associations and 600 temple committees. Of the 97,252 voters in Klang, the Chinese make up 45.78% of the electorate, while Malays constitute 33.94% of the pie and Indians form 19.82%.
Charles' Chinese dilemma therefore is whether his hard work in serving his constituents will be negated by his lack of clout as a patron.
For the DAP insider, however, that is not an issue.
"The party matters more than the candidate in elections. At the end of the day, people see the rocket, they vote," he said, referring to the party symbol.
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