Chinese voters could cut BN’s big win

LABIS, Jan 27 — Barisan Nasional’s (BN) hope of retaining Tenang by a majority of at least 5,000 votes has been made difficult as the DAP’s campaign for the January 30 by-election has begun to gain momentum, particularly among the Chinese.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Umno campaigners, who are confident of winning the majority of the Malay votes, have started blaming MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek for his alleged failure to curb the DAP’s rising influence since nomination day.

“I think they have underestimated the influence Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng have over the Chinese community. They are the crowd pullers here and unlike PAS, DAP ceramahs are only attended by locals,” said an Umno official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Kit Siang and his son, Penang Chief Minister Guan Eng, spent one day each in the constituency, addressing two well-attended rallies in the Labis Tengah polling district.

Both rallies, held on Monday and Tuesday night respectively, attracted at least 300 local residents, a huge number by Tenang campaign standard.

The DAP is now confident that PAS candidate Normala Sudirman would win at least 60 per cent of the Tenang Chinese votes especially as most of them will return for next week’s Chinese New Year holidays. In Election 2008, PAS obtained 58 per cent of the Chinese votes.

“Currently, we have about 60 to 65 per cent, we are targeting to increase by over 70 per cent, it is still very difficult because in some areas we are not very strong yet,” said Johor DAP chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau.

The DAP’s estimation is almost similar to projections by Umno campaigners who estimated that the Chinese support level has not gone beyond 30 per cent since the start of the campaign period last Saturday, leading to some in Umno demanding to have more say on how the campaign should be run in Chinese areas.

“The problem is we can’t even have frank discussions with the component party on the situation in Chinese areas,” said another Umno official.

“Without strong support from the Chinese areas, it will be difficult for us to get a 5,000-vote majority,” he added.

The MCA has been under pressure to regain the lost Chinese support in a constituency perceived to be the stronghold of Dr Chua to prove its relevance in BN. The party won only 15 of the 31 parliamentary seats it contested in Election 2008.

In 2004, BN won the seat with a majority of more than 5,517 votes but it was reduced to 2,492 votes in Election 2008, which was largely attributed to the shift of Chinese support to the opposition.

Tenang has about 14,500 voters, with the Malays making up about 49 per cent while the Indian voters make up 12 per cent, leaving the Chinese with 39 per cent.

There are three Chinese-majority polling districts in the Tenang constituency — Labis Tengah, Labis Timur and Labis — where in 2008 PAS secured 50 to 67 per cent of the votes.