Kedah PAS state commissioner Ahmad Yahya has come up with an analogy in his efforts to justify PAS’ support for BN candidate Wee Jeck Seng in the coming Tanjung Piai by-election.
“Voting the Chinese MCA in Tanjung Piai is the same as buying Malay-Muslim items that are sold by Chinese salespeople.
“While they are sold by Chinese (MCA), the owners are Malay-Muslims (Umno-BN),” Ahmad said in a Facebook posting last night.
He went on to say that this was a better choice than buying products which used a Malay-Muslim name (Bersatu) but were businesses actually owned by non-Muslims (DAP).
“Jurujualnya Melayu (PPBM), tetapi taukenya Cina (DAP),” Ahmad said in dismissing Bersatu as “Malay salespeople for Chinese bosses”.
His comparison appears to be borne out of a desire to reconcile PAS’s backing of Wee, with PAS leader Abdul Hadi Awang’s recent statement that it was forbidden for people of the Islamic faith to surrender power to other races who are not Muslims.
The Tanjung Piai by-election has presented a challenge for politicians harping on Malay-Muslim supremacy such as Hadi, Putra leader Ibrahim Ali and many Umno leaders.
In the run-up to naming the BN candidate, there was a strong lobby for the two-term former MP Wee to be dropped in favour of a Malay-Muslim candidate.
This was especially so as the ruling Pakatan Harapan’s candidate, Karmaine Sardini, is the son of a local religious figure and also serves as Johor Bersatu’s Religious Bureau chairperson, besides being the former imam of the Al-Muttaqin Mosque in Johor Bahru.
The Tanjung Piai by-election is being held following the death of its incumbent, Dr Mohd Farid Mohd Farik, 42, of heart complications on Sept 21.
In the general election last year, Mohd Farid won the seat after polling 21,255 votes to defeat Wee (20,731 votes) and PAS candidate Nordin Othman (2,962 votes).
The EC has set Nov 2 as nomination day and Nov 16 as polling day for the parliamentary by-election.
Thus far Karmaine, Wee and Gerakan deputy secretary-general Wendy Subramaniam have been named as candidates.
– M’kini
Bersatu slight edge in Tg Piai, outcome depends on outstation voters, says pollster
THE race for Tg Piai is still open and will depend on which party is better at mobilising their vote banks, said political survey outfit Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE).
This is because a high number of voters reside outside the Johor parliamentary seat that will hold a by-election on November 16.
According to IDE’s survey conducted from October 18 to 20, 56% of those polled said they have family members who reside outside the constituency.
Of the 1,518 respondents, 33% said they have one to two family members who lived outside Tg Piai, while 15% have three to four family members who lived outside the area.
Another 3% had five to six family members residing elsewhere, while 5% said they have more than seven. Only 44% of those polled said they no family members living outside Tg Piai.
“This is crucial as previous by-elections have shown how important turnout can affect results,” said IDE chief executive Mohammad Redzuan Othman today.
He said past by-elections since May 9 last year – Semenyih, Cameron Highlands and Rantau – were won by Barisan Nasional (BN), showing how effective the Umno machinery was in mobilising its voters.
“It will be interesting to see if they can do the same (in Tg Piai), without the government machinery.”
Unlike BN, Redzuan said parties under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) ruling coalition do not have a huge membership base.
Bersatu has a slight edge, he added, because it is better prepared this time compared to the Semenyih by-election.
“During our survey (of the Tg Piai seat) last week, we noticed that Bersatu has begun setting up its stations, compared to when it contested in Semenyih.
“Added to a more experienced candidate, Bersatu’s chances are better this time round.”
Bersatu will pit former Pontian candidate Karmaine Sardini against BN’s former two-time Tg Piai MP Wee Jeck Seng in the by-election.
During the last election, Karmaine lost to Umno’s Ahmad Maslan in Pontian by just 833 votes.
Redzuan said PH has a number of elected leaders who are from Johor, such as Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shaari and Selangor assemblyman Hee Loy Sian who could aid in campaigning.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of Md Farid Md Rafik, of Bersatu, on September 21 of heart complications. He was 42.
Farid, who was a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and an anaesthesiologist by profession, captured the seat in the 14th general election in May 2018.
The first-time MP polled 21,255 votes to beat Wee (BN-MCA) and Nordin Othman (PAS) by 524 votes. Wee had garnered 20,731 votes and Nordin, 2,962 votes.
Polling for the Tg Piai (P165) parliamentary seat will be held on November 16. Filing of nominations will be held tomorrow, and early voting is set for November 12.
According to the Election Commission, there are 52,986 registered voters – 52,698 ordinary voters, 280 early and eight overseas voters.
The racial breakdown of voters is 57% Malays, 42% Chinese and 1% Indian. – THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT.
-MKINI / THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.