In Pelangai, BN and Perikatan scrapping for bragging rights
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Pelangai voters will head to the polls today to elect a new assemblyman to take the place of Datuk Seri Johari Harun who died in the Bandar Elmina plane crash in August.
Added attention is falling on the by-election here as rivals Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional are each chasing a morale-boosting victory in the wake of two polls in Johor last month.
The coalitions are also hoping for the Pelangai by-election to bolster their position in the Pahang state assembly, after both claimed that each other’s elected representatives were planning to defect.
Currently, BN is left with 16 seats with Johari’s passing, the allied Pakatan Harapan (PH) has eight seats while PN holds 17 seats. There are 42 seats in Pahang state legislative assembly.
The outcome of the poll today will not jeopardise the unity government at the federal level, but would affect the BN-PN’s momentum for the 16th general election.
In Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan’s view, winning Pelangai is crucial to build BN’s confidence going into the next federal election and strengthen the party after its dismal performance in the GE15.
Mohamad reportedly said a BN victory today would signal that the coalition was resurgent, but this would need determined effort from the coalition that nearly “drowned” in last year’s GE15.
Before GE15, the Pelangai state seat was a bastion for Umno/BN that has held it since the seat was first contested in 1986.
Post GE15, however, Pelangai voters’ sentiment may have shifted due to factors such as unhappiness of Umno supporters towards BN’s collaboration with PH.
The anger on the ground, according to observers, is likely to trigger existing supporters shifting to PN, but with DAP and PKR on board, PH supports will transfer their votes to the Umno/BN candidate.
This is the first time in Pahang that BN has teamed up with PH for an election since forming the unity government.
A recent survey report titled “Pelangai Memilih: Antara Legasi Dan Perubahan” conducted on Pelangai voting said that over 55 per cent of respondents indicated their support for BN.
Based on the findings, it was found that the narrative of change brought by PN has not yet been able to penetrate the minds of the voters in the Pelangai constituency, even though there has been an increase in inclination towards PN.
On the other hand, if the PN candidate were to win the by-election, the coalition’s chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has reportedly claimed that PN could be able to take over the Pahang administration.
Muhyiddin also said that PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man would be nominated as the state’s menteri besar candidate if they emerge victorious.
He noted while winning Pelangai will not change much of the composition of state assembly members— only adding one more for PN — having one more seat means PN is only four representatives fewer than the government side.
Today, BN candidate Datuk Amizar Abu Adam will face off with former Umno member Haslihelmy DM Zulhasli and PAS’ Kasim Samat, a teacher, to vie for the seat’s 16,456 eligible voters.
Haslihelmy was sacked from Umno following his decision to contest in Pelangai while Kasim had previously contested the Pelangai seat in the GE15 held last year.
In GE15, Johari who represented BN, won with a 4,048-vote majority to defeat Kasim, PH’s Ahmed Wafiuddin and Pejuang candidate Isa Ahmad.
Johari’s predecessor Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob held the Pelangai state seat from 1986 to 2022 and was the Pahang menteri besar from 1999 to 2018.
