MANY factors came into play for the Sungai Bakap by-election, which saw the unity government candidate’s (Joohari Ariffin) defeat to Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) PAS candidate Abidin Ismail.
Abidin, 56, won with a majority of 4,267, almost a three-fold increase from his late PAS predecessor Nor Zamri Latiff, who only got a 1,516 margin in last August’s state election in Penang.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has conveniently blamed the loss on a host of national issues, from replacing the blanket diesel subsidy with a targeted model to inflation, all adding to a perceived increase in the burden on the people.
But other factors affected the outcome of this by-election, where an estimated 64% of voters turned up to exercise their democratic rights.
The low Chinese (22% of voters) and Indian (17%) turnout was a telling factor to Chow’s administration, which was entrusted to deliver the non-Muslim vote. The Malay electorate (59% of voters) was handled by PKR, Umno and Amanah.
PKR was supposed to work in tandem with Umno, which boasted of having some 5,000 registered members in Sungai Bakap to sway the Malay-Muslim ground, but the pendulum has been frozen since the 2022 general election.
This was when the majority of the Malay working class felt betrayed by Umno, which decided to work with its Pakatan Harapan archenemies, namely DAP and PKR, much to the chagrin of its loyal supporters.
And when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim decided to appoint controversial Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as deputy prime minister, the annoyance turned into more of a permanent discord, especially when Anwar’s unity government failed to effectively rein in living costs.
The federal and state government’s often repeated mantra of bringing in investments never left a major impression or meaning on the B40 working class.
They are not skilled nor can they withstand the mundane work of a factory production line to tap any rewards from FDI inflows.
Economist Ariffin Osman said the government may mean well but the majority of the promises were on paper rather than action-orientated.
“Over time, there is a disconnect between the people’s expectations and the bureaucratic-driven style of the Penang government,” said Ariffin.
Promises of easing traffic congestion, fighting climate change, not to mention water disruptions were just that – promises, more empty than fulfilled.
These were all some of the local issues raised by the people of Sungai Bakap.
This snowballed into a stupendous victory for PN, which actually was also out of sorts, after PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man’s oversight of attributing the ISO 9000 company certification as an individual academic qualification for Abidin.
But the voters had made up their minds probably even before the candidates were unveiled – the Malay voters were fed up with the rising living costs and voted for PN, while the Chinese and Indians stayed away because both PH and PN at this moment are not exactly meeting their expectations of good governance.
Universiti Sains Malaysia political scientist Prof Sivamurugan Pandian saw it earliest, saying that the green wave which PAS rode to win four Malay heartland states convincingly in the last state elections, was still evident.
“It may be stronger now. After all, the wave was just around 12 months ago,” he said.
Sungai Bakap is Anwar’s birthplace, and yesterday, the voters showed indirectly that they were not too impressed with him or his government.
Solidarity, unity and stability are nice catchwords but they are meaningless unless the government of the day truly acts on them.
Time will tell if PH digests its stunning defeat well, or history will repeat itself in the next state election such as in 2008 when Barisan Nasional lost control of Penang. – July 7, 2024.
