GE14 | The demonization of DAP is part of the BN campaign narrative in rural Kedah, even though the former is only contesting two out of 36 states seats in Kedah and none of its 15 parliamentary seats.

At a ceramah in the village of Teroi last night, BN Guar Chempedak state assembly seat candidate Ku Abd Rahman Ku Ismail warned that the few seats that DAP is contesting are akin to “Grade A chicken eggs” that they are likely to win, in contrast to the many “Grade D eggs” that Bersatu that Bersatu contests.

“If they (Pakatan Harapan) win, it is not Bersatu that wins. Bersatu was allocated to contest in 52 seats, but the seats they were given would have been ‘Grade D’ if they were chicken eggs. They would win only 10 or 20 percent and lose the rest.

“What DAP has are all ‘Grade A’ eggs that they would win at least 90 percent of. That means if they win - nauzubillah, we hope this doesn’t happen - it is DAP that would lead this party,” he told the audience of about 80 people, about half of whom were in BN t-shirts.

The ceramah was themed “Why we must reject PH”, referring to Harapan. Nationwide, DAP currently has 45 eligible parliamentary candidates out of 222 parliamentary seats, compared to Bersatu’s 50 candidates.

Ku Abd Rahman claimed that although Harapan may still pick its chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister if he wins the Langkawi seat, DAP would leverage its dominance in the parliament to place its veteran leader Lim Kit Siang as deputy prime minister instead of PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

It would then go on to demand many other ministerial posts, and Mahathir would not be able to refuse them because he would lack the clout in parliament to do so, he said.

He claimed that this has already happened in Selangor although the menteri besar is from PKR, and in Perak during the nine months when the state was headed by a menteri besar from PAS as part of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

Even in the previous parliament, he said 65 percent of Pakatan Rakyat’s MPs were non-Muslims, and the number increased to 70 percent when PAS left the coalition and Harapan was formed.

In contrast, over 70 percent of BN parliamentarians in the last parliament are Muslims.

“If we compare, it is very obvious – one is Muslim-majority, one is non-Muslim majority. Which one is going to take care of Islamic affairs? Which one between BN and (Harapan) is going to take care of Malay rights? Is it (Harapan)? Is it BN? Clearly, it’s BN,” he said.

He also took a swipe at Bersatu for not having party branches, including in various polling districts in the area, while the next speaker and BN Jerai candidate Jamil Khir Baharom poked fun at Harapan for lacking preparation for nomination day, which resulted in several of its candidates being disqualified.

Making amends for backing Harapan

Also present was former Bersatu member Anina Saadudin, who accused party leaders of supposedly lying to her and betraying her trust.

The Bersatu founding member said she is campaigning against Bersatu not because she had received a bribe – an allegation over which she had filed a defamation suit last year.

Instead, she said she is making amends for slandering caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak (photo above) over the 1MDB issue, for which she had filed a lawsuit against the premier.

Speaking to Malaysiakini later, she said she had been highlighting the issues she raised in her speech for some months, but primarily through social media. Last night was the first time she had hit the campaign trail since nomination day.

She said she intends to continue to focus on social media because it has better reach, but she had made an exception to last night’s ceramah because Ku Abd Rahman is a relative and she thought Jamil Khir is a good MP who never fails to visit his constituents at least twice a month.

Jerai is a rural constituency on the coast of Kedah, just north of the city of Sungai Petani. It takes its name from the nearby Mount Jerai, which is a popular tourist destination in the area.

Jamil Khir, who is also a caretaker minister in the prime minister’s department, is defending his Jerai seat against PAS’ Sabri Azit and Bersatu’s Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah Sanusi. Eighty percent of the constituents here are Malays.

During the last election, Jamil won the seat with a slim majority of 1,196 votes against PAS’ Mohd Firdaus Jaafar, which is just 1.9 percent of the ballots cast. This is the slimmest majority of all parliamentary seats in Kedah, whether by absolute numbers or by percentage.

In the Guar Chempedak state constituency within Jerai, meanwhile, long-time incumbent Ku Abd Rahman is defending his seat against a second challenge from PAS' Musoddak Ahmad, as well as Bersatu’s Mohd Saffuan Sabri.

Last election, Ku Abd Rahman bested Musoddak by a 2,298-vote majority. Eighty-nine percent of the constituents here are Malay.

The Teroi polling district is a BN-leaning district. Last election, 849 votes from the district went to Jamil and 828 votes to Ku Abd Rahman, compared to 500 votes for Firdaus and 519 votes for Musoddak.