MORE AT STAKE THAN LOCAL ISSUES
Campaigns focusing on dominance of Malay electorate, debate on national policies
WHILE Pakatan Harapan candidate Muhammad Aiman Zainali appears to be staying on course over local issues with the unveiling of his “commitment agenda”, Barisan Nasional’s Zakaria Hanafi is deflecting attacks linked to the promotion of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “bossku” campaign.
With only a day to go before polling on Saturday, PH and BN are ramping up their campaigning, with the fight for a seat in the Selangor assembly becoming a debaters’ forum on national issues, such as healthcare and the abolishment of toll.
The battle for Semenyih has long been about something bigger than local stakeholders.
Right from the start, campaigns focused on cementing dominance of the Malay electorate, the debate on national policies and federal politics.
PH chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was brusque in his salvo when he alleged that Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had ceased his party’s support for BN. This was done during nomination day, right when the opposition’s morale was high.
That threw a spanner into the works of the BN-Pas machinery, rattling it for a couple of days.
It took a meeting by the Pas leadership and assurances by Umno leaders to confirm to their grassroots that nothing has changed with the cooperation.
PH too suffered setbacks stemming from its choice of candidate, whom many regard as too timid despite his stellar academic credentials.
On a larger scale, its campaign took a hit following the government’s proposal to take over several toll concessionaires, which some have claimed to be merely paying lip service.
Night ceramah also touched on the toll proposal as part of PH’s defence mechanism. Fortunately for the ruling coalition, its machinery and political clout boosted the plan to buoy acceptance among supporters.
BN, on the other hand, is riding on PH’s unpopularity and brickbats thrown by Netizens.
The opposition largely gained assistance from Najib, who kept himself busy crisscrossing the constituency to distract PH from focusing on its campaign.
Nevertheless, despite being in the national spotlight, Semenyih voters remain focused on the candidates’ personality.
Last week, a survey by Universiti Malaya revealed that Aiman appears to be the most popular candidate, but a majority preferred BN to emerge victorious.
The survey was carried out at 12 out of 23 district polling centres from Feb 21 to 23, led by Associate Professor Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi.
“The most popular candidate is Aiman at 46.67 per cent, while BN’s Zakaria received a rating of 36.67 per cent. This is followed by independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng at 13.33 per cent and Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul at 3.33 per cent.
“This is based on a survey at the district polling centres visited by candidates during the election campaign period.”
However, he said 66 per cent of the respondents preferred Zakaria as their representative.
“Respondents were asked if BN should be given the chance to win the by-election. A total of 53.33 per cent agreed and 13.33 strongly agreed.”
The remaining 33.33 per cent, however, did not want the opposition coalition to win.
“But the situation is subject to change depending on the progress of campaigns and the people’s sentiments,” said Awang Azman.
Today, a number of bigwigs, including Dr Mahathir and Pas deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, will be here as part of the campaign’s final leg.
The prime minister is expected to reveal more about what transpired between him and Hadi, while Tuan Ibrahim will rally Malay hardliners behind BN.
The endgame is nigh.