PKR risks losing Chinese votes over hudud in Permatang Pauh

Farmer Tan Hwa Seng says the bigger issue remains the people's livelihood and GST. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, May 1, 2015.

For Pakatan Rakyat, hudud is "not the issue" in the Permatang Pauh by-election. Instead, the opposition pact's leaders are zeroing on the 6% goods and services tax (GST) which affects all consumers.

But no matter how hard Pakatan Rakyat tries to downplay hudud, it is something at the back of the minds of Chinese voters.

A resident of Kampung Cross Street in Permatang Pasir, who only wanted to be known as Chew, 56, said hudud was "a big problem".

“People are feeling uneasy with it. I believe some (Chinese) votes are going to go to Barisan Nasional over this.

“What can PR do about the GST? Yes, they are objecting but it is here, being implemented, and the people are paying the tax now.

"I doubt voting for (PKR candidate Datuk Seri Dr) Wan Azizah (Wan Ismail) will change anything," he told The Malaysian Insider while watching the late afternoon news on television.

Last month, the PAS-led Kelantan government passed its hudud amendments to the Shariah Criminal Code II Enactment at the state legislative assembly.

The move was opposed by DAP and PKR. 

Ties between PAS and the two parties worsened when the Islamist party's president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang tabled a Private Member's Bill in the Dewan Rakyat to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, to pave the way for certain categories under the hudud to be implemented in Kelantan.

The bill is scheduled to be debated in the coming sitting.

As PR prepared for the by-election, the coalition was hit by two controversies – the Permatang Pauh PAS division demanding an open apology from Dr Wan Azizah and a retraction of PKR's statement over the hudud issue, and Penang PAS Youth staying out of the campaign due to a dispute with its counterpart from the PKR Youth wing.

The issue with the division was eventually resolved and the state PAS Youth wing has changed its mind, too, promising support for Dr Wan Azizah in obedience to the Islamist party's central leadership's decision.

"It is normal for component parties to fight but for us, we just want a representative who can help us and serve the constituents," Chew said.

He said he has not seen both Dr Wan Azizan and BN's candidate Suhaimi Sabudin, a newcomer, but he and the locals know the local MCA leader Tan Teik Cheng, who is the Penang MCA deputy chief.

"He is helpful. He works although he did not win when he contested in the last general election (for the Padang Lalang state seat)."

Another resident of the village, who only wanted to be known as Tan, said hudud was unacceptable from the Chinese point of view and the Chinese should be united on the matter, but he felt voters would still make their decision based on their own views.

He said people should think about the candidates and which parties they represented.

"Some who don't want the GST will vote against BN. Each has his or her own opinion.A resident of Kampung Cross Street in Permatang Pasir, Chew, 56, says hudud is a big problem and some Chinese votes will go to Barisan Nasional over it. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, May 1, 2015.

"But the hudud issue will carry some impact with it now. Hudud has always been sensitive to the Chinese, so it will affect PR's votes, more or less.

"People who make a tough living like farmers like me would hope the government can help make things easier.”

Another farmer, Tan Hwa Seng, 58, said he felt that the bigger issue was still the people's livelihood and GST.

"Fertilisers for my vegetables used to cost me RM110. It is RM127 now after the GST kicked in. I am not asking for much. I am also not unhappy about a lot of things... I just want to be able to make a living without much trouble."

However, Hwa Seng said also believed that the hudud issue could still cost the opposition coalition some votes from the Chinese.

"People are not happy about it. This hudud issue may be the same story we have heard over and over again but it is not something the Chinese can accept."

But he added that Dr Wan Azizah would likely retain the parliamentary constituency for PKR, replacing her jailed husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Parliament.

Kampung Cross Street is a Chinese village at the end of the Permatang Pasir state seat, which is held by PAS rep Datuk Mohd Salleh Man. It is the only PAS state seat in Penang.

In the 2013 general election, Anwar retained the Permatang Pauh seat with 37,090 or 58.56% of the 63,332 votes cast, with a 11,721 majority.

BN’s Dr Mazlan Ismail garnered 25,369 or 40.06% of the votes while independent candidate Dr Abdullah only received 201 votes (0.32%) and lost his deposit.

Based on the analysis of the 2013 results, Anwar received 40% Malay votes, 88% Chinese votes and 60% Indian votes to win the seat. His biggest win was the Permatang Pasir state seat, where he won 13,266 (66%) of the 19,965 votes cast in the 2013 polls, with a 6,632-vote majority.

How bad the hudud issue will be for PR would also depend on how effective MCA can milk it to convince voters to support BN this time.

State MCA deputy chairman Tan Teik Cheng said the Chinese-based component party and its BN colleague Gerakan have been spreading the message to voters that a vote for PKR was a vote for hudud.

"Hudud has now been brought to Parliament (via Hadi's bill). PKR and DAP failed to stop it. That has proven that they are afraid of PAS.

"MCA and Gerakan each has 2,000 members each, and they are going around to talk to voters about this. We are trying to inform the people of this through our ceramah and house-to-house visits.”

Asked how voters were taking it, Teik Cheng said Chinese voters were a different breed of voters.

"They just listen to what you say. They won't reject what you tell them. We believe we can sway some votes back. We just have to continue to work hard," he said.

DAP's Permatang Pauh by-election director Steven Sim said the PR machinery have gone down to the ground and found that the most critical issue remained to be day-to-day economic pressures like the GST.

He said people were more concerned with prices going up than with hudud, which was not yet a reality.

"I believe that the voters know how to evaluate the issues, and see that some are part of a ploy to split PR.”

- TMI