SEMENYIH: In the 14th general elections Pakatan Harapan’s Bakhtiar Mohd Nor romped home with 23,428 votes, beating his closest rival, Umno’s Johan Abd Aziz, by a comfortable 8,964 votes to win the Semenyih seat.
But less than a year later, it looks like the odds have become more even.
Bakhtiar of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) died in January, forcing a by-election that now sees his son-in-law Muhammad Aiman Zainali squaring off with three others for the Malay-majority seat, including Umno’s Zakaria Hanafi.
There are about 54,000 voters in the constituency, with Malays accounting for 67% of them, making their support essential to win the seat.
If support is to be measured by the number of people attending each candidate’s ceramahs or rallies, then Aiman has his work cut out for him.
A recent rally by Banting assemblyman Lau Weng San of the DAP drew more journalists than voters.
Even his suggestion – perhaps in jest – that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak should be regarded as “pencuriku” or thief rather than “Bossku” failed to work up the crowd.
On the other hand, there was good turnout at Najib’s rallies.
He focuses on the promises Pakatan had made in the run-up to GE14 and his conclusion that they have yet to make good on those pledges.
His “Bossku” campaign also seems to have resonated with the crowd – both in cyberspace and on the streets.
However, political scientist Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian warned against making quick assumptions, pointing out that the “bossku” campaign has not proven that it can get Umno the votes.
At the end of the day, it could be just bread and butter issues that will decide the outcome.
