KUALA KANGSAR – Pakatan Harapan (PH) is likely to score better in Perak in the coming general election, but this will not be inspired by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s candidacy in Tambun, at least according to Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz.
Instead, the Padang Rengas incumbent MP said, the PKR president’s decision to abandon his Port Dickson seat for one in Perak must have been motivated by the projection that his coalition will make further inroads in the state.
“Generally, PH is expected to perform better here, but not because of Anwar,” the senior Umno leader told The Vibes in an interview here yesterday.
“Anwar feels there is a perceived good chance for (PH) to win in Perak, that it is safe for him, that’s why.”
Nazri was commenting on Anwar’s announcement on Thursday night that he will be taking on the Tambun parliamentary seat in the 15th general election as part of a bid to push Perak as the catalyst of PH’s conquest of Putrajaya.
He said he felt the responsibility to lead Perak after seeing the coalition gain control over Penang, Selangor, and Negri Sembilan in recent elections.
Anwar added that he decided to compete in Tambun as being the opposition leader, he wanted to take on a tougher challenge and not contest in a seat that guarantees a huge majority.
Nazri however noted that PH is almost certain to win Tambun anyway, due to a considerably healthy number of non-Malay voters and an expected split vote owing to multi-cornered fights.
In the 2018 general election, Malay voters made up just 67% of the constituents, followed by Chinese (20%), Indian (11%), and others (2%).
Nazri said these same factors will also presumably favour PH in a large number of other seats in the state previously won by Umno.
“Take seats like Larut and Bukit Gantang for instance. These will now be contested by Perikatan Nasional (PN) and PH as well.
“If PH can conquer the non-Malay support, and the Malay votes are split equally between three coalitions, obviously they will win. More so if PH can field well-liked local candidates.”
On top of this, Nazri said DAP’s increasing influence among Chinese voters in Perak will also provide PH with a safety assurance.
“Look at Teluk Intan, Taiping, Ipoh Barat, Ipoh Timur, Batu Gajah, and Kampar, for example. These are all seats with very strong Chinese support. DAP can easily win eight or nine seats. So, Perak is certainly a place where PH feel they have some hope of winning.”
In the last general election, of the 24 parliamentary seats in Perak, DAP won all seven it contested in. PKR, meanwhile, won three of five, Amanah won two of four, while Bersatu contested in eight and was victorious in one, which was Tambun. – The Vibes, October 22, 2022
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