GE15: can Peja overpower Anwar’s might in Tambun?

TAMBUN – It will be a David v Goliath battle in Tambun as caretaker youth and sports minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu takes on Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) prime minister candidate Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the parliamentary seat this Saturday.

The Perikatan Nasional (PN) deputy chairman is banking on Malay votes to make him a “giant slayer”, just as how PH’s own Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin expects to do the same in Bagan Datuk against Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

In an exclusive interview with The Vibes in Tambun, Faizal said he is also relying on the fact that he is a true-blue local in the federal seat – which now has 160,855 voters, compared to 107,763 in the 2018 national polls. In that election, Faizal won the seat in a three-cornered fight with Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS candidates by a majority of 5,320 votes.

This time, there are more than 50,000 new voters, which includes 18- to 20-year-olds, and there is no precedent to how they will vote.

Faizal won Tambun in 2018 when his Bersatu party was with PH. Now, in addition to Anwar, he also faces BN’s Datuk Seri Aminudin Md Hanafiah and Abdul Rahim Tahir of Pejuang, running under a Gerakan Tanah Air ticket.

Against the charisma of Anwar, Faizal said he is banking on two things to see him through – his roots and service record in Tambun.

Unlike Anwar, I am from here. People know me. They know my family. My great grandfather is from here. 

“They have known me as ‘Peja’ all the while and they remember what I have done for them for the last two years when Malaysia was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Faizal, who was a Perak menteri besar when he was with PH, believed he had the advantage against Anwar due to support from the Malay community, which forms the majority of Tambun’s electorate. 

He also expects the Malay vote to be split mainly between BN and PN, citing Anwar and PH’s association with DAP as their weakness.

“At this point, the situation is neck and neck between Anwar and I, but I believe he has chosen the wrong state to contest. 

If you go around, you can see how the Malay community is rejecting Anwar and his association with DAP gives him the disadvantage.

“Anwar does not understand how much the Malay community in Perak detests Nga Kor Ming, who has been talking nonsense for the last 10 years and people are fed up,” Faizal said in reference to the Perak DAP chief.

“PH will be banking on the support of the non-Malays although a good number of Chinese have stopped supporting (Nga).

“The votes from the Malay community in Tambun are between PN and BN,” Faizal added.

However, the Bersatu man still hopes that his service towards the non-Malays during his tenure as menteri besar will give him some leverage in the coming election.

“I treat everyone equally. It was during my time as menteri besar that an allocation of RM10 million was distributed to the non-Malays for their houses of worship. That is almost RM1 million a month.

“The demographic of Tambun is 68% Malays and 11% Indians but there are 38 temples and fewer mosques. So, how do I manage? I have to accommodate everyone equally.

Land for places of worship, reducing the lease from 99 years to 30 years... all these I did during my time as menteri besar, and they remember it.”

“In my constituency alone, I spent RM550,000 for the Indians.

“Perakians are known to be colour-blind,” he added.

Faizal, who is 52 while Anwar is 75, said he would continue serving the people of Tambun in his own capacity even if he loses the election.

“The people matter, and I will always be trying to help them in whatever way I can,” he said. – The Vibes, November 17, 2022