KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 — Several political analysts have conceded that fielding a Malay candidate in Kuala Kubu Baru can be the popular strategy to garner game-changing votes from the majority bloc that’s presently cut up three-way.
Following insistent calls from all political divides for a Malay candidate forward of nomination day, the observers stated the Malay bloc appears to be nonetheless undecided regardless of the seat in Selangor being historically gained by DAP.
“Malay votes in normal are cut up proper now, amongst Pakatan Harapan (PH), Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN). Some Malays are undecided. Hence, those that need to put up a Malay candidate try to ‘chase’ them.
“About 80 per cent of the non-Malay voters in the constituency will vote for DAP. Malay voters are most likely extra drawn to the PN,” Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Azmi Hassan advised eNews Malaysia.
In the weeks earlier than PH and PN introduced their candidates this week, the Kuala Kubu Baru state constituency has by no means been one with Malay candidates contesting the seat.
In the latest state elections final yr, the candidates had been the late Lee Kee Hiong from DAP, Gerakan’s Teoh Kien Hong, Muda’s Siva Prakash Ramasamy and Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Chng Boon Lai.
Even in the final 5 state elections, the Kuala Kubu Baru constituency noticed just one Malay candidate, which was PAS’ Naharudin Abdul Rashid again in 2018, who gained the least variety of votes.
PH has since introduced Pang Sock Tao, the press secretary of minister Nga Kor Ming, as its candidate. In response, PN introduced a Malay candidate the subsequent day: Hulu Selangor Bersatu performing division chief Khairul Azhari Saut.
The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) and the Malaysian United Democractic Alliance (Muda) introduced yesterday they’d sit out the by-election.
However, International Islamic University Malaysia’s political analyst Syaza Syukri stated {that a} non-Malay candidate can nonetheless win the seat as Kuala Kubu Baru remains to be a “blended constituency”.
“I believe a Malay candidate may win — not due to their ethnicity however the social gathering that they symbolize. In different phrases, I really feel Malaysian voters are polarised by parties.
Unity candidate Pang Sock Tao with the management in the course of the announcement of her candidacy for the Kuala Kubu Baru by-election on the DAP Operations Centre, Kuala Kubu Baru, April 24, 2024. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin
“But I additionally see the speak about DAP proposing a Malay candidate as an olive department to the Malays. But I nonetheless suppose it gained’t work. So electorally, it won’t imply a lot, however perception-wise, it would add to one thing for DAP,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun stated that in normal, those that vote for DAP or PH are primarily voting primarily based on the social gathering and never candidate desire.
“So it mustn’t make an excessive amount of of a distinction what kind of candidate DAP proposes. Moreover, the possibilities of DAP profitable over extra Malay votes by proposing a Malay candidate doesn’t look promising, as most Malays would nonetheless see DAP as a Chinese-controlled social gathering.
“For PN, their possibilities of getting Chinese votes are subsequent to none, so placing up a Malay candidate can maybe additional improve their already sizeable Malay assist,” he stated.
The candidates had been introduced following leaders from either side of the political divide akin to Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and PN’s election director Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor asserting that the constituency had seen a rise in Malay voters in latest occasions.
Currently, the Malay group in Kuala Kubu Baru makes up 46 per cent of voters, in comparison with Chinese voters at 30.6 per cent.
This represents a major shift from 2018 when Malays made up 44 per cent of voters and Chinese 35 per cent.
Even earlier than its candidates had been introduced, PN had prompt that fielding a Malay candidate would give them a greater likelihood of securing a win, with Gerakan’s Muniraa Abu Bakar — who beforehand contested the Bukit Lanjan seat in the state election in August — additionally named as Khairul Azhari’s different.
The Kuala Kubu Baru by-election was triggered by the demise of DAP’s three-term assemblyman Lee Kee Hiong on March 21 following a battle with most cancers.
The Election Commission (EC) set polling day for the 40,226 voters on May 11, whereas April 27 is nomination day. Early voting takes place on May 7.
The Kuala Kubu Baru by-election is the seventh by-election to be held after the fifteenth normal election in 2022.
