'Widened political lens': Batu to see multiple-cornered fight for the seat

The election season is upon us and with this comes the quinquennial rat race of MP hopefuls across the nation.

An interesting multiple-cornered match appears to be shaping up in Batu in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur - with four candidates announcing they will run in the 15th general election, so far.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Universiti Malaya sociopolitical analyst Awang Azman said the GE14 winner P Prabakaran - who initially contested as an independent before joining PKR - has encouraged constituents to widen their ‘political lenses’.

“Batu was won on an off-chance in GE14 due to Tian Chua's ineligibility and was held throughout the term by an independent candidate who has since joined PKR.

“The service and delivery of this rather fresh person, who was originally outside of the political fraternity, have perhaps provided a precedent for the people of Batu to widen their political lenses when voting and to give more weightage to personality dynamics beyond partisan politics.

“This is perhaps why some candidates, especially the independent ones, find that there is a better chance here, given the circumstances as well as the demography,” Awang said.

Political analyst Wong Chin Huat reasoned that it ‘may not be much hotter’ but only appears so for certain reasons, including former PKR incumbent Tian Chua wishing to take back the seat from incumbent Prabakaran, and the candidacies of two independents.

“It is good that voters have more choices, but Malaysia's decades of experience in elections have trained most voters - especially in the urban areas of the peninsula - to vote strategically.

“This means they don't necessarily vote for the candidate they like the most, but the more acceptable one from the top candidates with the better chances of winning.

“No matter how many candidates will join the battle, Batu will likely see a contest between PKR and BN. Regardless of whether Tian Chua or Prabakaran get nominated, if the other one runs as an independent, he would be trounced by Pakatan Harapan supporters,” Wong said.

It is unclear whether PKR will be fielding incumbent Prabakaran - who is currently the youngest MP - over party stalwart Tian Chua.

Both Prabakaran, 26, and Tian Chua, 58, have voiced their interest in contesting the seat, which has sparked tensions within the Batu division of the party.

Tian Chua was allowed to contest in the 2013 general election and he won the Batu seat with a 13,284-vote majority - but he faced disqualification in the 2018 general election.

In 2019, the High Court ruled that Tian Chua’s disqualification as an electoral candidate in 2018 was invalid - which allows him to contest in the elections to come.

Independent candidates

Thus far, two independent candidates have emerged in the running for the Batu seat in GE15 - lawyer and activist Siti Zabedah Kasim and a lesser-known businessperson, Nur Fathiah Syazwana.

Siti first made her intention to contest in Batu last year, as part of the reform group Gerak Independent - which she co-founded.

In Batu, she told Malaysiakini, she felt its constituents would better understand her cause as opposed to those in rural areas.

She had also expressed her suspicions that fellow independent candidate Nur Fathiah - also known as Cleopatra - was planted by a political party after allegedly being spotted with some MIC leaders on social media.

Malaysiakini reached out to the businessperson - as well as MIC, with which she allegedly has close ties - on Siti's comment but we have yet to receive a response.

Nur Fathiah's campaign - which was launched on Oct 16 to over 26,000 of her followers on social media - is set around the idea of #ResetBatu.

Nur Fathiah is also reportedly a director in a defense and security company.

Wong told Malaysiakini that the success of the two independent candidates’ campaigns would depend on whether they are able to appeal to an apolitical voter base.

“As for Siti Kassim or Cleopatra, their best bet is to appeal to apolitical voters, whom I call ‘Parti Aku Malas Undi’ (Pamu) instead of hardcore (voters) from the parties.

“If they can persuade those who don't think of voting to come out to vote for them, they may perform better than normal independents, but it would still take a miracle for them to win,” said Wong.

The Batu parliamentary seat has one of the largest volumes of Indian voters in Peninsular Malaysia.

Others to suffer the same fate as independents?

For Barisan Nasional (BN), Gerakan, which previously contested under its banner from the time Batu was established as a constituency in 1984, exited the coalition after the 14th general election.

Gerakan  joined Perikatan Nasional (PN) in 2021.

Wong noted that if PN decides to field a Gerakan candidate - where Gerakan has traditionally contested and even held the Batu seat till the 2004 election - it may suffer the same fate as the two independent candidates Siti and Nur Fathiah.

BN is reportedly eager to field a candidate from a non-governmental organisation, while there has been speculation that Gerakan may not be vying for the seat at all. This vacuum allows other PN parties, such as Bersatu and PAS, to step in.

“If PN fields a PAS candidate, it might get around 10,000 (votes) like in 2018, but it is not a threat to either PKR or Umno,” added Wong.

The Batu parliamentary seat - spanning roughly 20 square kilometres - has 113,519 registered voters in total. The constituency is expected to see 40,000 first-time voters in the forthcoming general election that will be held on Nov 19.

In the 2018 general election, Prabakaran triumphed above all other candidates with a 24,438 majority.

Those who fought against Prabakaran in GE14 were Dominic Lau from Gerakan who only managed to secure 13,687 votes, Azhar Yahya of PAS who bagged 10,610 votes and independent candidate Panjamorthy Muthusamy, who only received 383 votes.

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