Pendulum swinging away from BN in Ketereh?

Ketereh voters are unique and give an opportunity to a different political party to win in each election, says PPBM Ketereh chairman Razin Jidin.

Ketereh incumbent Annuar Musa is known as a strongman in Kelantan Umno, but he could be ousted in GE14. (Facebook pic)

KOTA BHARU: If the political pendulum in the Ketereh parliamentary constituency in Kelantan swings as expected, its voters will move away from Barisan Nasional (BN) to pick another party in the 14th general election (GE14).

This outcome appears certain, based on the constituency’s election record since 1986, where despite two changes in name, the cycle of change has remained unbroken for three decades.

In 1986, when it was known as Kok Lanas, it elected Abdullah Ahmad, alias Dollah Ahmad, once a powerful political secretary to second prime minister Razak Hussein.

He popularised the constituency by adopting Kok Lanas as his moniker.

However, Semangat 46, formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah after he broke away from Umno, snatched it from BN in the following general election.

The constituency was renamed Peringat in 1995 but the roller coaster ride for the parties continued with BN’s turn again, then Keadilan’s in 1999.

In 2004, Peringat became Ketereh, but the voters remained as fickle-minded as ever, picking BN again, then PKR in 2008 and BN in 2013.

If night follows day, then BN must surely make way for either PAS or Pakatan Harapan (PH) in 2018.

“Ketereh voters are unique,” said PPBM Ketereh chairman Razin Jidin. “They give an opportunity to a different political party to win in each election. This is a very competitive seat.”

The Ketereh district lies to the south of state capital Kota Bharu, and is the main exit point for the tens of thousands of young Kelantanese who migrate to Kuala Lumpur or elsewhere on the west coast of the peninsula in their hunt for jobs, which are scarce in their PAS-ruled home state.

Some of the government facilities here include a polytechnic, Giat Mara training centre and Mara Junior Science College.

Of most significance, however, is the Desa Pahlawan army camp, a vote bank which plays a key role in determining the result of any election in Ketereh, which had an electorate of 62,217 in 2013.

The Ketereh incumbent is Annuar Musa, a strongman in Kelantan Umno and one of the most colourful politicians in Kelantan.

Annuar, the current Umno information chief, was elected in then-Peringat in 1995, defeating Semangat 46 candidate Rafie Mat Selleh by a slim majority of 1,935 votes.

He was ousted in the next round by Keadilan’s Muhammad Mustafa by a margin of 4,525 votes, before making a successful comeback in 2013 by just 974 votes.

Although much has been made by analysts of the advantage three-cornered contests offer to BN, the expectation may not be fulfilled in Ketereh in GE14.

PAS and PH component PPBM, an Umno splinter, are certain of joining the fray but, if the pendulum swings again, it will be either of these two parties emerging victorious rather than BN.

On paper, a win for PAS is being favoured since it already holds two of the three state seats in Ketereh – Kadok and Melor – while Umno won the third with a thin 169-vote majority.

PAS Ketereh committee member Yusnan Yusof, who anticipates a PAS victory in the constituency, said the voters preferred a party based on a religious platform.

“PAS is the only party now defending Islam, and the people can see this,” he said, adding that PH would not have a big impact on his party.

He also said the BN incumbent was burdened by issues related to the state football association and Mara which he headed as chairman in the past.

Early last year, a Mara internal audit committee questioned Annuar over allegations of corruption, including the sponsorship of the Kelantan football team.

Annuar was also investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for alleged abuse of power and misappropriation.

Meanwhile, PPBM’s Razin also expressed confidence that Annuar would be rejected by voters in Ketereh in the coming polls.

He dismissed concerns that PPBM, as the new kid on the block, might find it hard to make an impact, pointing to Ketereh voters’ habit of changing their choice of parties at every election.

“They can switch to anyone to become their representative,” he said.

Razin acknowledged PAS had a large number of hard-core supporters in Ketereh, but was confident that many of them would vote for PH as the alternative to BN.

“PAS’ hard-core supporters are also rational voters. They know about the problems faced by the country and will go with PH in the end,” he said.

Ketereh Umno Youth chief Mohd Azam Ismail however defend Annuar and dismissed the issues surrounding him.

“No action was taken against Annuar in the Mara case and he was cleared of any wrongdoing. It was the same in the football sponsorship issue,” he said.

He said the presence of PPBM in Ketereh posed no threat to Umno as it was set up to split the votes.

“Umno sees PAS, not PPBM, as the main rival,” he added. -FMT