There was an immediate huge sigh of relief among many members of Barisan Nasional (BN) in Penang after Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow was appointed their new chief.

 

The appointment has changed the political battleground between the ruling state coalition, led by DAP, with the opposition BN in Penang.

Most telling is the fact that BN has selected younger leaders, most of them below 50 years old and headed by Chang Yeow, who are not only well-educated but aggressive to challenge the DAP-led team.

“We need a game changer and fresh faces to take on (Chief Minister) Lim Guan Eng for the long haul. It is the consensus among party leaders that Chang Yeow is the stronger candidate with a proven track record. He fits the bill - a young, dynamic and capable leader. What’s most important is that he is below 50 years old,” said Gerakan deputy president Chang Ko Youn.

Chang Yeow, 47, will fit in well with the new line-up BN leaders in the state, such as Penang Umno chairperson Zainal Abidin Osman, 51, as well as other fresh faces.

So, with this new spirit, can BN make a breakthrough this time around? As pointed out by Seberang Jaya state assemblyperson Arif Shah Omar Shah, what BN needs is for Umno to deliver at least 14 seats and other BN components to deliver another seven seats to BN, capturing 21 of the 40 state seats in the state assembly.

The BN seat allocation for contest in the last general election was Umno (15), Gerakan (13), MCA (10) and MIC (two).

umno penang wants contest in penanti state seat 200409 ariff shah What Ariff Shah ( left ) says looks good on paper, but there is still some concerns that Gerakan in Penang would not able to show a united front.

Penang Gerakan chairperson Dr Teng Hock Nam has refuted this, saying that Gerakan will come out as a team.

“His (Chang Yeow) appointment (as Penang BN chairperson) is okay for us. There is no issue about it. Now it’s a bright time, no dark shadows (lurking about). Don’t think about a dark shadow when there is none,” he told Bernama in an interview.

Hock Nam has been known to be at loggerheads with Chang Yeow in the past, but the latest appointment indicates they are working together again. In fact, immediately after assuming the state BN chairperson position, Chang Yeow retained Hock Nam as state BN working committee chairperson.

Charting their strategies

In fact, party insiders revealed that three key leaders in Penang Gerakan, Chang Yeow, Hock Nam and former secretary-general Chia Kwang Chye have already begun charting their strategies for the coming election.

umno general assembly day three 151106 chia kwang chye While Chang Yeow has said that he will contest a state seat, there is also a possibility that Chia ( left ), who is still considered a winnable candidate, may also be chosen to contest a state seat in what political analysts here have labelled as a combination of a “formidable force”.

Among the seats being mentioned for Chang Yeow to contest is Sg Pinang, Datuk Keramat and his former seat, Padang Kota. Chia, on the other hand, has been tipped to contest in Tanjung Bungah.

Penang-based political analyst Cheah See Kian said should such an arrangement materialise, Chang Yeow stood a good chance of winning either Sg Pinang or Datuk Keramat, even though it might be difficult for him to recapture Padang Kota from state DAP chairperson Chow Kon Yeow.

“Sg Pinang is a mixed constituency in Jelutong, 56 percent Chinese, 29 percent Malay while the remainder of the voters are Indian and other races. Chang Yeow has a chance there. The other is Datuk Keramat, currently being held by Jagdeep Singh. Even though the seat is 80 percent Chinese, Chang Yeow still has a good chance there,” he said, adding the same would apply for Chia if he was fielded to take on current state assemblyperson Teh Yee Cheu from DAP.

 

Cheah explained that Chia’s organisational skills, coupled with the fact that he also has been a resident there for the past 20 years, would give him an edge as evident during a large turn-out for a recent dinner function despite diners having to pay.

Of the 40 state seats in Penang, 22 are Chinese-majority constituencies. Therefore, the DAP has to maintain a high Chinese support rate to match their feat in 2008.

DAP won 19 seats, including some mixed seats. The remainder are held by PKR, which won nine seats, including five in majority Chinese seats and one by PAS in a Malay majority seat.

The question is, can Pakatan do it again in the coming election?

Political analyst Khaw Veon Szu said the possibility of PKR losing most of the seats it won in the last election is high as the party has been perceived as weak, particularly among Malay voters.

“However, this is not solely PKR’s doing,” he said, but because of Lim Guan Eng’s style of leadership which created a perception that PKR state leaders as weak because both PKR and PAS do not have leaders who stand out nationally like Lim who is both DAP secretary-general and chief minister.

Nurul Izzah to stem the tide?

Khaw guessed that PKR may resort to sending its vice-president, Nurul Izzah to Penang, which is also the home state to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, to stem the tide.

 

NONE “Should Nurul Izzah ( right ) contest in a state seat in Penang, it would provide a better platform for PKR to regain some of its support. She may be appointed as the first female deputy chief minister, should she win,” he said.

There is also speculation that seats such as Kebun Bunga (Jason Ong), Batu Uban (Raveentharan), Bukit Tengah (Ong Chin Wen) and Machang Bubuk (Tan Hock Leong) are under threat with suggestions of under performance. In fact, Tan suffered a stroke recently and is unlikely to run again.

Therefore, some BN party insiders are of the opinion that it is not impossible for BN to recapture the state or at least improve on their results.

“You need a politician like Chang Yeow, who is aggressive and can take on the politicians on the other side, as he has done before. The voters might buy such an idea and give a few seats to BN. If the voters accept such a notion, then it might have a snowballing effect which would eventually cause the ruling party in the state to lose more seats,” one of the insiders said.

 

- Bernama