PKR man believes Idris can give Harapan edge in uphill Malacca battle

 

MALACCA POLLS | PKR information chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin believes that there is a viable path to victory for Pakatan Harapan in the Malacca polls despite an uphill battle.

He said this will involve capturing 16 seats that the coalition has a reasonable chance of winning, including the one contested by Idris Haron (above), an Umno defector fielded by PKR in Asahan.

“Idris’ entry (into Harapan) should give Harapan an advantage in terms of contesting in a seat which we previously could not win.

“Harapan has never won Asahan but it was previously won by Umno. We put him there because Asahan is his hometown and he has his strengths, including the fact that he was the former Malacca Umno chief,” Shamsul told Malaysiakini in an interview.

Shamsul said if Idris can deliver Asahan, it will be an added value for Harapan. Idris was fielded by PKR under a Harapan ticket.

The game plan, Shamsul said, will require DAP to hold on to all eight of the state seats it won in the last general election.

They are Bandar Hilir, Kota Laksamana, Kesidang and Ayer Keroh, which DAP won relatively comfortably as well as Gadek, Duyong, Bemban and Pengkalan Batu, which are marginal seats.

DAP had spent most of the early days of campaigning trying to explain its allies’ decision to field Umno defectors in the election and attempting to convince their support base not to snub the polls.

PKR must win another four

Apart from Asahan, Shamsul said PKR must pick up four additional seats if Harapan is to stand a chance.

They are Paya Rumput, where he is contesting, Kelebang which PKR's Gue Teck is defending, as well as Rim and Rembia.

Paya Rumput was previously won by Bersatu but the party later quit Harapan and is now part of the PN coalition.

Shamsul contested in Rim during the 2018 general election but lost by 536 votes.

Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin

In Rim, Muhammad Jailani Khamis is defending the seat. He won the seat under a PKR ticket in the 2018 general election but had since defected to Umno.

Meanwhile, he said Amanah is expected to deliver three seats. In the 2018 general election, Amanah won in Durian Tunggal and Bukit Katil, a seat which Harapan’s chief ministerial candidate Adly Zahari is defending.

It had also fielded Umno defector Nor Azman Hassan in Pantai Kundor under Harapan’s ticket. Nor Azman is the seat’s incumbent, which he won in 2018 under BN’s ticket.

Defending existing ground

“We must win a minimum of 15 seats. If we don’t, then we won’t be the government. So, we have to work between the (coalition) members,” he said.

Shamsul’s formula essentially requires PKR, DAP and Amanah to retain all the seats they have won previously amid the possibility of a lower turnout due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as wresting Paya Rumput from Bersatu and picking up Rim and Asahan from BN.

Telok Mas, which Bersatu won for Harapan in the last general election, is not on Shamsul’s list.

The seat is being contested by Bersatu vice-president Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen. His opponents are Harapan’s Ashraf Minghat, BN’s Abdul Razak Abdul Rahman and independent candidate Ariff Adly.

In the last general election, DAP managed to capture eight seats, PKR three, Amanah two and Bersatu two, scraping through a simple majority to form the state government.

However, the Harapan-led Malacca government collapsed in 2020 after Bersatu quit the coalition and two assemblypersons from PKR and DAP respectively also defected.

The government that replaced Harapan - an alliance between Umno and Bersatu, was also short-lived, collapsing in October after four assemblypersons quit the government.

Following the collapse, BN’s incumbent chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali sought a dissolution of the state assembly, paving the way to fresh polls.

Campaigning for the Malacca polls started on Nov 8. Malaccans will elect 28 members to the state assembly on Nov 20. -Mkini