MALACCA POLLS | Pakatan Harapan may have touted Adly Zahari as its chief ministerial candidate but BN believes it can deny the Amanah leader a win in Bukit Katil.
Malacca BN chief Ab Rauf Yusoh (above) trusts that Umno can defend all 13 seats it won in the 2018 general election while gaining an additional four.
He said among the four includes Bukit Katil where Adly, the Malacca Harapan chief, is the incumbent.
"Apart from the 13 seats, we expect we can pick up another four which will ensure that we can form a stable government.
"We see that we can wrest seats that we lost narrowly (in the last general election). For example, Bukit Katil," Rauf told Malaysiakini in an interview.
Bukit Katil, formerly known as Bukit Baru, was a constituency held by Umno's former chief minister Mohamad Ali Rustam from 2004 until 2013.
In 2013, PAS won the seat with only a 48-vote majority when it was part of Pakatan Rakyat.
Its successor coalition fielded Adly in the seat during the 2018 election and he was able to widen the majority to 3,159 votes.
Adly won 52.14 percent of the total votes despite a three-cornered fight involving PAS and Umno.
Harapan too is eyeing to rout BN's chief ministerial candidate Sulaiman Md Ali in Lendu.
PKR, which is contesting in Lendu, had pointed out that Sulaiman only won with a 627-vote majority in the 14th general election (GE14). Sulaiman received 46.87 percent of the votes in the last general election.
Obedient party member
Rauf was previously portrayed by opponents as the real power player behind Sulaiman and his possible successor, a claim he denies.
He said as a party man, he will abide by Umno's decision to renominate Sulaiman as its chief ministerial candidate.
"The party has nominated Sulaiman so don't link (the chief ministerial) candidate to me.
"At the end of the day, it's the party's decision. I've never said that I'm the future chief minister.
"As an obedient party member who abides by instructions, I'm a humble servant to the party," he said.
Compared to Sulaiman, Rauf is contesting in Tanjung Bidara, a seat that is significantly safer.
In GE14, BN won Tanjung Bidara with 58.15 percent of the votes, the highest margin for Umno in the whole state.
Rauf stressed that there was no point discussing the chief ministerial candidate as they must first win the election.
"There is no guarantee we will win. There is no point nominating anybody to become chief minister if the party does not win," he added.
While optimistic about BN's chances, Rauf said his coalition is not underestimating Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Harapan.
Rauf himself is facing a formidable opponent in the form of Bersatu's Mas Ermieyati Samsudin who is representing PN.
She is also the Masjid Tanah MP and a deputy minister. Tanjung Bidara is a state seat under Masjid Tanah. PKR's Zainal Hassan is also contesting in Tanjung Bidara under Harapan's ticket.
"Politics is the art of 1,001 possibilities. So there's no need to question whether she (Mas Ermieyati) is a strong contender or not. She would also see me as a strong contender," Rauf said.
He believes that the Umno-led government under Sulaiman, which was installed in March 2020, had served the people well in its 19 months in power.
Rauf said the focus if BN wins will be on the Covid-19 recovery process and restoring Malacca's tourism industry which is a key source of income.
To prevent a hung assembly, the competing coalition in the Malacca polls - BN, PN and Harapan - must win at least 15 seats in the 28-member state assembly.
Early voting commences today while the general Malaccan population will go to the polls on Nov 20. - Mkini
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