JOHOR POLLS | With the Johor state election campaign entering its second half, the question of where non-Malay support - especially the Chinese community - will go remains a puzzle to contesting parties.
For Parti Bersama Malaysia co-leader Rafizi Ramli, feedback from the ground as of the seventh day of campaigning suggested that Chinese voters were still taking a wait-and-see approach.
"In all my years of managing elections, this is among the most difficult to predict, especially when it comes to Chinese voters.
"Even tonight, if you look, not many Chinese people attended. The majority of those who turned up were mostly Malays and Indians.
"Except for a small number of hardcore supporters, Chinese voters generally are still keeping their choices secret.
"So, it is quite difficult to read which way the Chinese votes will go," he told Malaysiakini after a "Jelajah Kancil" ceramah in Mahkota, Kluang yesterday.
The Mahkota seat is witnessing a three-cornered fight between incumbent Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah from BN, Pakatan Harapan's Dr Ahmad Zuhan Zain, and Bersama candidate Abd Hamid Ali.
Major dilemma
Commenting further, Rafizi did not rule out the possibility that Chinese voters are facing a major dilemma after having given solid support to only one political bloc for a long time.
"Either they are still divided, or they have quietly made up their minds to choose another side but prefer not to show it.
"However, logically speaking, we can say Chinese voters are still in a dilemma, and they are still assessing.
"They have voted predominantly for DAP, and indirectly for Harapan for the past 20 years. This is the first time they are presented with an alternative.
"So, I am not downplaying the dilemma that Chinese voters have to go through," the former minister added.
More than 200 people attended the ceramah, most of whom were members of the public.
When asked about Bersama's odds in the Johor state election, Rafizi said the party's main objective is not to form the government, but rather to ensure all their candidates can retain their deposits and secure at least 15 percent of the popular vote.
He compared the party to PAS, which only obtained around 10 to 12 percent of the votes despite having been established in Johor for over 60 years.
"Anything beyond that target is a bonus," he said.
In this state election, Bersama is fielding candidates in 15 state seats compared to PAS, which is only fielding 11 candidates.
In the 2022 state election, PAS only won the Maharani state seat with a majority of 1,037 votes in a six-way contest.
‘Malays remember 1MDB’
In another development, Rafizi said the campaign by several Umno leaders to link a BN victory in Johor with efforts to free former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak would only benefit the opposition.
He was commenting on a statement by Najib's son, Nazifuddin, who said a landslide victory for BN would signal that the people support his father's release.
Rafizi said a large section of Malay voters have not forgotten Najib's role in the 1MDB scandal.
"I do not think a large section of the Malays have forgotten about 1MDB, corruption, and the reason why Umno was rejected twice in 2018 and 2022.
"In fact, 2022 was the worst result for Umno, and both (general election losses in 2018 and 2022) were linked to Najib.
"I hope they (Umno) keep saying so, because that helps shift the votes of fence-sitting Malays who previously rejected Umno," he quipped.
About 2,727,926 registered voters will go to the polls in Johor on July 11.
Out of that total, 2,703,175 are ordinary voters while 24,751 comprise police and military personnel, as well as their spouses. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.