Battle for Sg Besar: Intense fight between BN, PN, Harapan

GE15 | Since the Sungai Besar parliamentary seat was created in 2004, the constituency had been an impenetrable fortress for BN.

This was up until the 2018 general election, when a political tsunami swept BN to its first-ever electoral defeat, losing many long-held parliamentary seats to Pakatan Harapan.

While BN still managed to garner a significant number of voters to close the gap with Harapan in Sungai Besar, its candidate Budiman Zohdi still lost to Bersatu's Muslimin Yahaya by a razor-thin majority of 714 votes.

Muslimin's victory was largely contributed by votes coming from the 12 polling districts Harapan won out of 28.

For the 15th general election (GE15), BN is betting on Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunos, a controversial political figure known for his colourful and polarising antics.

But can Jamal wrestle the seat from Muslimin and defeat two other contenders - Harapan’s Saipolyazan Yusop, who is a former Lembaga Zakat Selangor CEO, and Pejuang's Asmawar Samat?

"I am confident that voters will swing back to BN this time around," said Jamal when met during one of his walkabouts in Sungai Besar recently.

"Especially after Harapan had only given false hope to its supporters, with many of its promises not kept. Its MP (Muslimin) had even jumped to Perikatan Nasional.

"So, I just want to remind voters that the government that made all kinds of promises during the 22 months and 17 months in power are actually the same people, so I believe the people would know whom they should choose in this election," he added.

The politician, who is famous for his “Red Shirt” movement and for his 2016 water cut protest where he showed up at the Selangor state government office in Shah Alam in 2016 wearing towels, also expressed his confidence that many Chinese voters would return to shore up BN.

This may be a jarring proposition, considering how he is seen nationally as an ultra-Malay figure, leading the counter-rally against Bersih and smashing beer bottles to protest the Better Beer Festival in 2017.

However, in response, Jamal said this was merely Harapan propaganda, and that the Chinese community in Sungai Besar know him better.

"The people and voters in Sungai Besar know me better than the outsiders. If you look at BN's victory in Malacca, Johor and Sarawak state elections, the Chinese voters already know whom they want to support.

"I believe that more Chinese voters in Sekinchan and Sungai Besar would support BN this time. I expect the increase (in votes to BN from the Chinese community) would be no less than 15 percent."

Sungai Besar is a constituency in which 68.97 percent of its voters are Malays, followed by Chinese (28.78 percent), Indian (1.98 percent), and others (0.27 percent).

It is made up of two state constituencies - Sungai Panjang which is larger and held by an Umno representative and Sekinchan, which is held by DAP.

Chinese votes

Correspondingly, Malaysiakini’s interviews show support for the parties divided along racial lines.

Many Chinese voters expressed their support for Harapan, a decision largely linked to their trust towards the coalition’s member party, DAP.

They also hinted at distrust towards BN and its candidate Jamal, whom they see as not favourable to the community at large.

"I think here in Sekinchan, most of the people would still support the red party, Harapan. But in (the town of) Sungai Besar, where there are more Malays, I think there, BN would thrive," said a fishmonger at Sekinchan Wet Market who only identified himself as Ah Loon.

Asked why he is not supporting BN or PN, the 40-year-old man said he doesn't mind any party as long as they can work for the people, but had reservations about Jamal.

"He can only make a nuisance out of himself. (I think) he can't do the job. I think it is hard for the Chinese voters to support him because he would be focusing only on helping the Malays and neglect us, the Chinese.

"If he is the kind of person who takes everyone as equal regardless of race, I am okay," he added.

Another voter, Phua Chun Ping, 30, said he felt Jamal’s track record is less than exemplary.

"If you ask me, I won't vote for him. Because I do not like his attitude, what he did previously. He was too extreme," said the fishmonger.

Undecided first-time Chinese voters may also be throwing their support behind Harapan, following the choice of their family and friends.

This was best put by 22-year-old Heng Khai Ping, who said: "I will vote for Harapan this time because many Chinese (people) support it.”

But it does not mean BN has lost its appeal among the Chinese altogether. Some of the voters, especially those aged 50 and above still trust the oldest political coalition to defend their interests.

A 56-year-old fish seller, who only identified himself as Lee, said he regretted having supported Harapan in the 2018 election.

His main contention was Harapan's failure to keep its promises during the 22 months in power and the 2020 Sheraton Move political coup, which saw a group of Harapan MPs jumping parties, thus toppling the government.

"I think I just want to sleep during the polling day. What is the use of me voting? They said we should vote for rocket (DAP/Harapan), but it went only for 22 months before everything was turned upside down.

"The YBs (elected representatives) started jumping here and there and counting numbers. Better for me to just focus on making ends meet rather than voting.

"But if I decide to go out to vote, I will give mine to BN," he said.

Malays split

While the Chinese are believed to be backing Harapan, Malay votes may be well divided between the three major coalitions - BN, PN and Harapan.

While BN still has its loyalists, there are those who wish to see PN win in Sungai Besar and at the federal level, seeing it as a better option among the Malay-centric parties.

They see that PN, which is led by Muhyiddin Yassin, has lesser baggage than Umno and would still defend Malay interests compared to Harapan.

"I think the economy is bad now, and I would choose (the coalition) which I feel is good, with its leader not implicated with corruption and other scandals.

"I also want a party that would defend Islam in the country. I think I would choose PN," said first-time voter Zulkifli Haikal Abdullah, 21, from Kampung Baru Nelayan.

A similar sentiment was expressed by Nazri, 56, a workshop operator, who said he used to support BN but now plans to shift to PN.

"So far, I see the party (PN) has a clean record," he said, adding that Muslimin was a good MP who had served the constituency well.

When asked about what he feels about Harapan, Nazri played coy, saying that he would not support the party but declined to say why he was against the Anwar Ibrahim-led coalition.

Another constituent, Mohd Shukri Abdullah, 56, said he will continue to give his vote to BN and believes Jamal deserves to win.

"He has helped many people here," he said.

"Besides, Harapan only knows how to make promises without actually keeping them. I believe the Chinese voters would return to BN too."

The same goes for Mohd Yusof Sidek, 70, a vegetable seller who said he is among several of his circle of friends who remained with BN when many others had crossed to Harapan in 2018.

While he admitted that Harapan also has an appeal to him, Yusof said he is now undecided as he knows Jamal personally as someone who has helped him in the past.

Yusof also believed that BN now has improved from what it was before.

"Before this, the problem was with several of its leaders who are crooked. But the current prime minister (Ismail Sabri Yaakob) may be good."

None of the voters said they intended to vote for Pejuang, indicating that the new party set up by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad may not be seen as an option in Sungai Besar.

In the last week before polling day, a good fight is expected between BN, Harapan and PN, but Pejuang may be fighting to keep its deposit.

Zahid: Jamal's towel stunt shows his courage in speaking for the rakyat

Jamal: Teresa is desperate to prevent me from contesting

Teresa: Jamal owes me money, candidacy qualification doubtful

Jamal, KJ and Zafrul to make Selangor debut

Fundraiser for Jamal hits RM300k mark