If the results in the four previous general elections for the Teluk
Intan parliamentary constituency were to be an indicator, the voting
trend would lean towards a homegrown representative.
DAP seems to be ignoring Teluk Intan residents' preference for a local
to represent them by fielding a candidate who is not only an outsider
but a young Malay woman.
Is the DAP so confident that their supporters would not mind changing their preference even for the party?
Many residents when met by Bernama, were unsure about saying yes because
to them, voters in Teluk Intan had always been insistent about having a
local representative.
Self-employed Eric Tan said voters would be happier with a local
representative, whom they could easily meet and communicate, compared to
an 'imported' representative.
"We did have that problem in the past and the representative was always not around," he said.
In the 1999 general election, voters chose local Datuk Mah Siew Keong
from the Gerakan, who served for two terms until 2008 and local Seah
Leong Peng from the DAP, who also served for two terms, from 2008 until
his death on May 1 this year.
Tan said the DAP's choice of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, 27, as their
candidate was outside the norm and likened it to the DAP's decision in
the 80s to field Fadzlan Yahya in the 1986 general election.
In the three-corner contest among Fadzlan, BN (Gerakan) candidate Ong
Tim Kim and PAS candidate Nadzri Baharuddin, Ong won by a majority of
1,443 votes.
However Fadzlan won the Pasir Bedamar state seat, a DAP stronghold with
10,845 votes, defeating BN candidate Gan Loot Heng who obtained 7,667
votes.
The DAP former vice president held the seat for three terms.
Meanwhile, Teluk Intan MIC Youth Chief Sri Murugan said an imported
representative would have difficulty looking after the interest and
welfare of the constituents and would not understand the needs and
expectations of the residents.
He said, should the DAP candidate win, she would not only fail to fulfil
the pledges made during the campaign but would not be able to resolve
problems faced by the residents.
"The situation is different with BN's candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong as
he is a local. Even when he lost in the election, he would still assist
us, regardless of whether we were Malay, Chinese or Indian. If we had a
problem, we could always meet him," he said.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (Social Science Studies) political analyst,
Associate prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian opined that DAP's hardcore
supporters might undertake a protest vote or refrain from voting to
demonstrate against the party's decision to field an outsider and
non-Chinese.
"Many factors can contribute to the protest. It can be the factions from
within the party in Teluk Intan, the hudud issue and factions at state
level," he said.
Sivamurugan said if the protest votes were substantial it might move the parties within the opposition to review their alliance.
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) independent political analyst Datin
Paduka Prof Dr Ramlah Adam said DAP appeared to belittle Teluk Intan
voters by fielding an outsider and political freshie.
"Can residents trust her as their representative? Can she talk about the
hudud...even though she is a lawyer but not syariah," she said, adding
that a protest vote campaign against DAP could possibly happen.
Universiti Putra Malaysia, Economy and Management senior lecturer M.
Neelamehan advised Teluk Intan voters to vote wisely and choose a
representative who could bring change and benefit to them.
The Teluk Intan by-election will see a straight fight between Mah and
Dyana. The seat fell vacant when Seah, 48, succumbed to cancer at
Universiti Malaya Medical Centre recently.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Malay voters will secure the victory for Dyana.
That's because UMNO has done a good job of belittling MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other component parties.
All the hate campaigns using religion and race have already created a mindset among non-moslems and non-Malays that BN is not the right party to lead Malaysians forward towards a progressive multi racial party.
Even if just only the Malay voters come out to vote, it may surprise all that Dyana will still win.
That's because most Malaysians hate Samsengs deep inside whatever the reasons given.
So, all the tukang kayu political analysts in universities who are so detached from the people on the ground, please get the butt out from your ivory chairs and do some real analyzing.
Post a Comment