After Cameron tumble, can Harapan hold on to Semenyih?
Pakatan Harapan will face another electoral battle in a month, this time for the Semenyih state seat in Selangor.
In the last general election, the coalition scored a comfortable win with an 8,964-vote majority. However, the changing political landscape could see BN and its ally PAS mounting a serious challenge on March 2.
In last Saturday's Cameron Highlands by-election, BN and PAS proved that with the right motivation, the once bitter enemies can form a formidable alliance...
Pakatan Harapan will face another electoral battle in a month, this time for the Semenyih state seat in Selangor.
In the last general election, the coalition scored a comfortable win with an 8,964-vote majority. However, the changing political landscape could see BN and its ally PAS mounting a serious challenge on March 2.
In last Saturday's Cameron Highlands by-election, BN and PAS proved that with the right motivation, the once bitter enemies can form a formidable alliance capable of capturing a majority of Malay votes.
During the general election, BN and PAS contested separately in Semenyih, coming in second and third place respectively.
Even if their votes are combined, the two are still 1,998 votes behind Harapan.
This could be good news for Harapan, as the voting patterns in Cameron Highlands suggested that the coalition retained their share of Malay votes with some minute gains.
In Semenyih, 67 percent of the voters are Malays, Chinese (17 percent) and Indians (14 percent).
A shot in the arm
However, BN's win in Cameron Highlands has given the coalition a much-needed shot in the arm and its newfound zeal could eat into Harapan's votes.
In Cameron Highlands, BN's campaign was centred around the cost of living, Harapan's unfulfilled election promises, as well as the death of Fire and Rescue Department personnel Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.
Selangor government think tank Institut Darul Ehsan warned that Umno and PAS' rhetoric could win over suburban and urban Malays if the government does not assuage the community's concerns.
Meanwhile, Harapan must ensure that its non-Malay supporters come out and vote in the Semenyih by-election.
Turnout rates in Chinese- and Indian-majority areas in Cameron Highlands were below the constituency average of 68.79 percent. Comparatively, 70.46 percent of Malay voters turned up to cast their ballots.
The Semenyih seat fell vacant after its incumbent, Bersatu's Bakhtiar Mohd Nor, died three weeks ago.
Bakhtiar had wrested the seat from BN in a four-cornered fight on May 9.
Besides Harapan and BN, PSM's S Arutchelvan might vie for the seat again.
It also remains to be seen if former premier Najib Abdul Razak would hit the campaign trail for Semenyih, as he did in Cameron Highlands.
Nomination for the Semenyih seat is on Feb 16.
The CH loss is a much-needed ignition of the PH butt. They have become too arrogant in such a short time, esp the UMNO TERBARU aka BERSATU party, while the other coalition parties in PH have lost their scrotal fortitude and just playing to Maha's gallery as long as Maha gives them power and positions in the government, they are happy. What a betrayal of the rakyat's hard work, who put those imbeciles up there. I would love to see another defeat for PH in Semenyih, it will more the sweeter if the losing PH's candidate is a Malay. The rakyat is the BOSS, don't play, play PH.
9 months down the road...Najib walks free.....best reason for PH to loose....so much for crooks and 1MDb....
let harapan lose for not keeping manifesto promises.
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