Ismail Sabri’s future in Bera shaky, say analysts after boycott call

Agriculture Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob may see his three-term hold on the Bera parliamentary constituency come to an end in GE14, say analysts. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, February 5, 2015.Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s comments that Malay consumers should boycott Chinese businesses will not do him any favours in his parliamentary constituency of Bera, where the Chinese community make up more than a quarter of the voting population.

Although the agriculture and agro-based industries minister has held the Malay-majority seat for three terms, support for him has declined during each election.

In 2013, he barely scraped through a three-cornered fight, winning the seat with a 2,143 vote majority. Ismail polled 21,669 votes while his PKR opponent Zakaria Abdul Hamid picked up 19,526 votes. Independent candidate Mohamad Wali Alang secured 670 votes.

According to news reports, the constituency has 50,997 voters of which 16,319 are Chinese. There are 30,088 Malay voters while the rest fall under the category of others.

Election analyst and DAP lawmaker Dr Ong Kian Ming said that most of the 32% Chinese population in Bera voted for the opposition, but added that Ismail Sabri’s future in the constituency depended on him attempting damage control and trying to woo more voters if he wanted to do something about his tenacious hold on the constituency.

“Sixty percent of the Chinese in Bera voted for the opposition last year. The state seat in Bera, which is Teriang, has been a DAP stronghold for six general elections,” Ong told The Malaysian Insider.

“But if Ismail wants to maintain his seat and win the support of the Chinese, then he must apologise for his comments,” he said.

Ong’s take on Ismail's constituency came after the minister’s controversial comment on Facebook urging Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses to fight profiteering.

“Forgive me for sharing my views, but besides the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, which uses the Price Control Act and the Anti-Profiteering Act to act against traders who raise their prices indiscriminately, the greatest power lies with consumers.

"The majority of consumers are Malay, Chinese are a minority. If the Malays boycott their businesses, they will surely have no choice but to reduce their prices," he posted on the social networking site.

Ismail had also singled out the OldTown White Coffee café chain owned by OldTown Bhd, saying DAP MP Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham owned shares in the company.

"Malays are still refusing to boycott (OldTown White Coffee) what more when its owner is said to be the DAP Ngeh family of Perak who are known to be anti-Islam.

"As long as the Malays don't change, the Chinese will take the opportunity to oppress the Malays," said Ismail Sabri.

However, he has been steadfast in his refusal to apologise.

“I won’t withdraw my statement and I won’t apologise,” Ismail Sabri told reporters at the Putra World Trade Centre on Monday, during a gathering of his supporters, and reiterated it  at a function held by Umno division chiefs to back him yesterday on the issue.

Political analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who heads the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs think tank, said any Malaysian voter regardless of race, would be repelled by Ismail's comments.

“I think the reaction of any right-minded Malay or Chinese who believes in Malaysian unity would be of disgust.

“And I think, or at least hope, that the Chinese voters will remember what he said when it comes to the vote.”

The Chinese of Bera are predominantly concentrated in Teriang, where they make up 69% of the voting population last year as opposed to 26% Malays and 4% Indians.

BN has traditionally fielded a Gerakan candidate for the seat, while Guai and Kemayan – both Malay-majority state constituencies – are contested by Umno.

Gerakan Pahang acting chairman Tee Yew conceded that the feelings of the Chinese community were hurt by Ismail Sabri's comments, and added that the fate of BN in the state now depended on how his party would explain the remarks to the locals.

“Whether or not Ismail Sabri's comments will affect the voters depends on how we rationalise it to the ground. They are a hard-working people and they can get very emotional about such things.

“Gerakan certainly doesn’t stand by his statement. So, the message we want to spread is that we should move on and focus on more important matters, such as our daily needs,” he said, adding that a lot of time had been wasted on racial provocation.

He said Gerakan hoped to continue changing the public’s paradigm so that Malaysians focused less on race and more on uniting as a nation to achieve Vision 2020.

However, he refused to say whether Ismail Sabri should apologise for the remarks, saying that it was up to the minister to handle the matter.

Last night, during a live interview on TV1's "Dialog" programme, Ismail Sabri said his boycott call will benefit all races, adding that if Malaysians were to use their collective power as consumers to boycott “stubborn” businesses, the prices of goods would drop.

"The effect is that everyone will benefit, whether they are Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans,” he had said.

Ismail Sabri did not apologise for his Facebook post which had ignited a storm of protest.

Instead, he said people should look at the "bigger picture", beyond the mention of race in his post.

“I hope that people do not just focus on one aspect... as if I was criticising one community. Look at the bigger picture,” Ismail had said in the programme.

- TMI