PN may be underdog in Mahkota, but may still win, says Azmin

MAHKOTA BY-ELECTION | Perikatan Nasional may be the underdog but that doesn’t mean it can’t win, said the coalition’s by-election director Azmin Ali.

He said the main difficulty faced by Bersatu in contesting the Mahkota seat is due to its higher proportion of non-Malay voters, who comprise almost half of the area’s population.

"I have to say that Makhota is a difficult seat. We've come in as an underdog. I must be honest about it.

"But of course, if you put a strong team to work on the ground, to reach out to the voters, to understand their needs and aspirations, and you strategise your approach, it is doable,” he told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview yesterday.

Azmin (above) said Kluang Bersatu, particularly its women and youth wings, is well-structured to take on the challenge of capturing the state seat.

He said the coalition’s machinery has started going on the ground to reach out to voters even before campaigning officially began.

PN has created teams to go house-to-house in each of the 18 polling districts, an approach selected due to Mahkota’s small geographic size, he added.

According to the Statistics Department’s Kawasanku portal, Mahkota is 60sqkm.

About 35 percent of Mahkota voters are Chinese, 54 percent are Malay, and eight percent are Indian.

Partners’ support

Azmin also expressed his gratitude for the support from Bersatu’s coalition partners, PAS and Gerakan.

“The role of Gerakan and Bersatu associate members in Makhota is very crucial because we have about 45 percent non-Malays.

"So we have divided our tasks in getting our machinery to approach (voters),” he added.

He revealed that Gerakan has mobilised 1,000 Kluang members in Bandar Tengah, where more than two-thirds of the population is Chinese.

He remains positive about attracting Chinese support as he believes that PN can address their concerns, which are primarily economic in nature.

He said Chinese voters in the area have disclosed their unhappiness with Putrajaya over several issues, including the high cost of living, rising inflation and declining job and business opportunities.

At the same time, Azmin said the prospect of Indian support is “more promising”.

"I think in the last few by-elections, they (ethnic Indian voters) were quite open and quite bold in terms of support for PN.

"The Chinese, yes, we have seen a small shift in Kuala Kubu Baharu, but still very small,” he admitted.

Non-Malay presence at ceramah

From Malaysiakini’s observation of the by-election campaign so far, there’s a lack of non-Malay attendees at PN ceramah.

At a ceramah held in Taman Ilham last night, around 50 people were present, but none were non-Malay.

Similarly, the first ceramah held by PN in Bandar Tengah saw only three Chinese in attendance.

Nevertheless, Azmin said his party is expecting to benefit from further shifts among non-Malay voters amid the ongoing halal issue, in which Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh attacked DAP’s Seputeh Teresa Kok’s criticism of a proposal to make halal certification mandatory.

Non-Malay voters also fondly recall PN’s performance as the government throughout the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, he added.

“In 2021, we recorded the foreign direct investments (FDIs) ever for Malaysia even though the borders were closed then.

"And when we provided all the stimulus packages, of course, the Chinese benefited from those policies because they are very much involved in economic activities, in the small and medium-sized enterprises. So, they still remember that,” he said.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Malaysia reached RM48.1 billion in FDIs in 2021, which was the highest level it had reached at that point.

The Mahkota by-election will see a straight fight between Kluang Umno Youth chief Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and PN’s Haizan Jaafar.

The Election Commission set Sept 24 and Sept 28 as early voting and polling day respectively.

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