PH should let BN contest Batang Kali seat in state polls, say analysts

 

Barisan Nasional should be allowed to contest the Batang Kali seat as 66% of the voters in the constituency are Malays, says Azmi Hassan.

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) should give way to Barisan Nasional (BN) to contest the Batang Kali seat in the state polls as a symbol of their solidarity in Selangor, say analysts.

Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said the area used to be a BN stronghold before Bersatu’s Harumaini Omar won it in the 14th general election (GE14), which he contested under the PH banner. Harumaini joined Pejuang in August 2020.

The seat was won by BN every year since it was first created in 1974.

“So in this case, this seat should be given to BN again in the next state election as there are not many other seats they can win,” Oh told FMT.

On Thursday, Selangor state assembly Speaker Ng Suee Lim announced that the Batang Kali seat had been declared vacant after Harumaini failed to attend the state assembly sitting for more than six months.

However, Harumaini said Ng had no right to declare the seat vacant as this was the prerogative of the Election Commission (EC) as stipulated in the Federal Constitution.

He added that he will take legal action against Ng if the decision was not revoked.

Another analyst, Azmi Hassan from Akademi Nusantara, also believes that BN should be allowed to take on Perikatan Nasional (PN) for the Batang Kali seat as 66% of the voters in the constituency are Malays.

“If you look at the current situation, PN is the main challenger in terms of attracting Malay voters,” he said.

“In Batang Kali, I feel that the party that can attract the Malay votes will win the seat.”

Batang Kali is one of the four state seats in the Hulu Selangor parliamentary constituency, which was won by PN’s Hasnizan Harun in the last general election (GE15).

Meanwhile, veteran analyst Ahmad Atory Hussain said BN cannot hope to win the seat just by banking on Malay votes, but also needs votes from non-Malays and PH can play an important role on that note.

“It will be difficult for BN to win if it does not get the support of non-Malay voters and also Malay voters who previously supported PKR,” he said.

“PH should guarantee support if BN wants to contest in Batang Kali. If not, it will be quite difficult for BN to get the seat back.” - FMT