Saifuddin vows not to repeat GE13 mistakes

PKR's candidate for Indera Mahkota says he was overconfident and was caught off guard by the 'Ubah' movement in 2013.

Saifuddin Abdullah said he did not expect the Chinese to turn against him in 2013.

SHAH ALAM: PKR’s candidate for the Indera Mahkota parliamentary constituency in Pahang, Saifuddin Abdullah, has learnt his lessons from his defeat in the 13th general election in 2013.

He admitted that he was overconfident when he contested under the Barisan Nasional (BN) banner against PAS’ Nasruddin Hassan Tantawi when contesting the Temerloh seat.

“I did not expect the Chinese votes to turn (to the opposition),” he told FMT.

Although he refused to say much, Saifuddin said the one mistake he would not repeat in the coming polls was to underestimate his opponent.

“I had a very close relationship with the Chinese and I thought everything was going fine.

“I miscalculated the ‘Ubah’ (‘Change’) phenomenon; that was my mistake,” he said.

This will be the second time Saifuddin will face Nasruddin since the last general election where Saifuddin lost to Nasruddin by 1,070 votes in Temerloh.

Saifuddin also admitted that as of now, there was no guarantee that the widely-speculated “Malay tsunami” would happen on May 9.

Speaking at a forum at Unisel here today, he said that if a “Malay tsunami” were to occur, it would only be felt in the last three days before polling day.

He said this was based on his experience when contesting the Temerloh parliamentary seat during the 2008 and 2013 elections.

“In 2008, I didn’t feel anything. But leading up to the final three days in 2013, I could feel that I would lose. That feeling was undeniable,” he said.

In 2008, Saifuddin stood against PKR’s Ahmad Nizam Hamid and won with a majority of over 2,400 votes.

Saifuddin said that if a “Malay tsunami” were to occur in the last few days before the May 9 election, he believed it would be due to the alliance between former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.

“These are two iconic Malay leaders who are once again fighting for the same team. This will create the platform needed for this Malay tsunami.” -FMT