Unity alliance expected to ride out PN ripple in Negeri Sembilan

 

Parties in the unity alliance are expected to retain seats in urban constituencies but will face a stiff PN challenge in rural areas. (Bernama pic)

SEREMBAN: Although Perikatan Nasional lacks presence in Negeri Sembilan, the opposition coalition can still pose a stiff challenge to Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional in the state assembly elections tomorrow.

At the general election in November last year, PN did not win a single parliamentary seat, but the state elections could show it starting to muscle in on some PH and BN strongholds.

A close call can be expected in 12 state seats, based on FMT’s observations in the state.

In Juasseh and Bagan Pinang, BN candidates Bibi Sharliza Khalid, wife of former menteri besar Isa Samad, and their son Najib are expected to face a tough fight from their PN rivals.

BN will also face a strong challenge from PN in seats like Jeram Padang, Palong, Lenggeng, Gemas, Serting, and Seri Menanti.

On the PH side, DAP is not expecting much of a challenge to the 11 seats it will contest, but the same cannot be said for Amanah and PKR.

For PKR, the real battles are in Ampangan, Pilah and Labu. For Amanah, PN candidate Danni Rais, the son of former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Rais Yatim, could cause problems in Klawang.

PH-BN top guns like DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook (Chennah), PKR vice-president Aminuddin Harun (Sikamat) and Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan (Rantau) are not expected to face any trouble keeping their seats.

Loke even remains confident of a clean sweep in the state as the voting trends from the previous elections did not favour the opposition. However, this depends on vote transferability between PH and BN voters, as well as the voter turnout on polling day.

PH-BN leaders remain optimistic about the high percentage of vote transfer from their respective grassroots supporters but the sentiment may not be shared by ordinary voters.

BN had a tough time convincing its voters to support PH candidates after they came together to form the unity government although coalition leaders said their situation was better than in other states.

Umno grassroots members are unhappy working with arch-enemy PH, on top of a dislike of party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his tenure.

PN’s simple strategy has been to urge the Umno members to back the coalition if they want to remove Zahid, while targeting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for his inability to rein in the cost of living.

Despite the PN threat, pundits remain confident that PH-BN will retain the state.

Political analyst Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin of Universiti Teknologi Mara predicted that the unity government coalition would have no problem winning a majority in the state assembly.

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“In Negeri Sembilan, there aren’t many local issues, and the advantage based on Aminuddin’s competent administration narrows the space for PN to disrupt the PH-BN majority,” Nirwandy told FMT.

Another political analyst, Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara, said PN would only pose a serious threat to PH-BN in Jeram Padang, despite the popularity of the PN campaign, which has seen appearances of big names like Hamzah Zainudin and Muhyiddin Yassin.

“PH-BN is likely to make a clean sweep in Negeri Sembilan, except possibly in Jeram Padang where the Indian voters make up nearly 40%, and since MIC has not been given this seat, this could potentially lead to fierce competition in the area,” Azmi said.

A further hurdle for PH-BN alliance is the question of who will lead the state following victory. Negeri Sembilan Umno chief Jalaluddin Alias appears unhappy with Anwar’s announcement to retain Aminuddin, which raises the possibility of a not so unified government post-polling day. - FMT