The campaigning for the Padang Serai election is well underway, with about a week left to go before polling on Dec 7. Politicians and observers say the election this time feels less intense than usual.
While party flags, posters and banners can be seen dotting areas such as the Padang Serai town, Lunas, Paya Besar and the Kulim Hi-tech Park, most of the constituency does not appear to have been “infected with election fever”.
There have also been very few big names from any of the parties going down to campaign in Padang Serai thus far, though more are expected in the second half of the campaign.
The less intense campaigning may be due to the kerfuffle surrounding the recent appointment of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim following the conclusion of GE15, which saw Pakatan Harapan and BN coming together with GPS, GRS and Warisan to form the federal government.
Despite Perikatan Nasional (PN) feeling like they missed the opportunity to form the government by a hair’s breadth, it is clear that they made great gains in GE15, with a wave of PN support sweeping through the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia.
Bolstered by their performance in GE15, PN now feels that Padang Serai – which has been won by PKR since 2008 – is within their grasp.
PN’s Padang Serai candidate Azman Nasruddin has been so confident of his imminent victory that he declared Padang Serai will become the coalition’s 14th parliamentary seat from Kedah.
PN saw the coalition swoop up almost all Kedah parliamentary seats in GE15 - save for Sungai Petani, which remained with Harapan.
Malaysiakini also observed overwhelming support for Azman on his campaign trail, such as last Sunday, when he visited the pasar malam at Jalan Kelang Lama in Lunas.
During his visit, PN supporters stood in the rain along the main road carrying flags and banners and they asked motorists to sound their car horn as a show of support.
The response from motorists was so overwhelming that it transformed the atmosphere into a fiesta mood for about an hour.
Malaysiakini’s street polls at various parts of the constituency also indicated that the sentiment on the ground was leaning towards PN, compared to BN or Harapan.
Riding the wave
Surrounded by oil palm plantations and the Kulim Hi-tech industrial zone, Padang Serai is a mixed seat with around 40 percent non-Malay voters, of whom half are Chinese.
The semi-urban constituency is located in the south of Kedah, bordering the Penang mainland.
In GE15, three Penang parliamentary seats that share a border with Padang Serai fell to PN. These are Kepala Batas, Tasek Gelugor and Permatang Pauh.
Most notably, PN brought down former Umno minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican in the BN stronghold of Kepala Batas - as well as Nurul Izzah Anwar in Permatang Pauh, which has been a PKR fortress since Anwar started his reformasi movement about 20 years ago.
Coupled with PN’s dominant showing in the other northern states of Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu – where they swept all the parliamentary seats – it is no wonder the coalition is banking on the “PN wave” showing its effects in Padang Serai as well.
On the other hand, BN candidate C Sivarraajh appears to see Padang Serai as a chance for the coalition to rise again, after its disastrous performance in GE15 where it only won 30 parliamentary seats.
Meanwhile, Harapan’s campaign has focused on its messaging that a vote for their candidate is a vote for Anwar. Candidate Mohamad Sofee Razak was even reported saying his victory in Padang Serai would be ”a gift” from the people to Anwar.
However, Kulim DAP chairperson S Neelamekan, 60, fears Sofee’s chances of victory would be affected by the Indian sentiment in the constituency, which he said had intensified after Harapan failed to field an Indian candidate.
“The Padang Serai voters have to be part of the solution and not become a problem. What is important at this stage for the nation is to be part of the solution.
“The split among the Indian voters, caused by these sentiments, will only benefit the political opponents who do not have the nation at heart… Indian votes will make a difference in this election,” Neelamekan told Malaysiakini.
There is also an issue between Sivarraajh and Sofee, as both urged the other to stand down in light of their respective coalitions now cooperating at the federal level.
However, both dismissed the idea of withdrawing from the race
In 2018, Harapan - with Bersatu’s support - won Padang Serai with just 45.3 percent of the votes after a large number of opposition voters backed PAS - which received 32.7 percent of votes.
Polling for Padang Serai was postponed to Dec 7 after Harapan’s incumbent M Karupaiya, 69, died several days before GE15.
This by-election for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat will see a six-way fight involving Azman, Sofee, Sivarraajh, Hamzah Abdul Rahman from Pejuang, Warisan’s Bakri Hashim and independent candidate Sreanandha Rao.
Sofee is the Kedah PKR secretary and a lawyer, while Sivarraajh is an MIC vice-president and a businessperson.
Azman, who defected from PKR in 2020 to join Bersatu, is currently the Lunas state assemblyperson and a member of the Kedah state executive council. - Mkini
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