The Malaysian Insight

IF the general election is to be used as a yardstick to gauge Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) chances in six state elections next year, the ruling coalition will retain Penang, but it could be a little more tricky in Selangor and Negri Sembilan, PH reps said.

Meanwhile, they have totally ruled out any chance PH might have in ousting Perikatan Nasional (PN) in Terengganu, Kelantan and Kedah.

The resurgence of PAS and the “green tsunami” it triggered in the November polls; the results of two belated elections in Padang Serai and Tioman showed PN is strong in states where the Islamist party dominates.

Negri Sembilan state exco Nicole Tan told The Malaysian Insight that PH has some concerns in Selangor and Negri Sembilan as the ruling coalition lost ground to PN in the former and Barisan Nasional (BN) in the latter.

Tan said the biggest threat to PH in Negri Sembilan is its unity government partner BN, not the opposition PN.

However, she said there could be a solution to negate that threat.

“We just have to negotiate with Umno. If we can agree on seat sharing before the state election and getting out of each other’s way, everything will be fine.”

Tan said it is not impossible after BN and PH agreed to form a coalition government in Perak and Pahang, after no single party or coalition obtained a simple majority in those state elections.

She said if the seat sharing talks fail, some kind of co-operation agreement could be drawn up after the election.

Tan is making an early start in the defence of her seat beginning with live interactions with voters via Facebook.

“Through the live streaming, constituents can ask any questions directly”.

Negeri Sembilan PN chairman Eddin Syazlee Shith in an interview earlier said the opposition coalition is aiming to win 19 of the state legislative assembly’s 36 seats.

Eddin admitted the target is a tall order but not impossible, adding that the last election and the PN win in Padang Serai proved this.

In Selangor, Rawang assemblyman Chua Wei Kiat said PH could struggle in the rural areas despite having controlled the state since 2008.

“I don’t think it’s too early to draw some conclusions because the situation now is a bit different than it was before,” Chua said.

“PH is now part of the federal government and its performance will influence the Selangor vote.”

Chua, who believed state elections could be called in the next six months, said voters should have no fear of the PH government.

“With the PH administering the state for more than 10 years, voters should be very familiar with its performance.”

The PKR deputy communications director said the post-mortem for the last election found that fake news and rumours were shaping peoples’ minds.

“This shows why, for the coming state election, it is important to strengthen our weaknesses in the social media war to counter fake news and the lies.”

In 2018, PH won 51 of the 56 seats in Selangor, with the BN taking four and PAS one.

Despite thinning of the PH ranks through defections by Bersatu and PKR members following the Sheraton Move, PH still retained its majority in the assembly.

Balakong assemblyman Wong Siew Ki said PH should be comfortable in Selangor as the coalition still has its core support.

Wong said all the PH government has to do is maintain existing policies that have brought benefits to the people in the state.

She also said PN was also not built overnight.

What worries her is that PN is beginning to reap some rewards in harping on race and religious issues.

“We can see that in the recent polls. For three terms, the Selangor government did not resort to race and religion.

“This is certainly one issue we have to deal with.”

Wong, who is also DAP Selangor publicity secretary said more political education must be carried out, especially among the young first-time voters.

“We found a lot of first-time voters did not know the importance of voting and the power they have to make changes to the government.

“We need to do a better job in educating them.”

Wong said one tactic is to produce more short videos, so the young voters can access them for reference.” – December 17, 2022.