ALOR SETAR: The majority of voters in Kedah are with Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional, not with Perikatan Nasional as claimed by some, says Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid in dismissing PAS’ strength and its speculated spillover effect in mainland Penang.
The Kedah Barisan chairman said the so called “green wave” only happened during the 15th General Election and Perikatan benefited from the sentiment at that time.
“That wave will not continue and it will wane,” he said.
The former mentri besar and minister who is Barisan’s candidate for Pedu dismissed the 3P (PAS, padi and pondok) factor as being decisive on who will win in the state election.
He said the 3P factor was an outdated rhetoric in Kedah since more than 30 years ago.
The 3P factor is an informal and colloquial description of PAS strength, meant to depict how the Islamist party relied on the social network of the huts (pondok) in agricultural areas such as the padi fields.
He said the only real strength PAS had in Kedah was when the party won the state government in 2008 when it teamed up with DAP and PKR under Pakatan Rakyat.
“But it was only for a term. After that, voters decided to bring back Barisan in 2013,” he said.
He added that Kedah PAS had internal problems now.
“For example, in Langkawi, two of its members decided to go rogue by contesting as Independents because they were not satisfied with the candidates picked by Perikatan,” he added.
He was referring to Langkawi PAS committee members Safwan Hanif Shafie, 34, who will contest in Ayer Hangat, and Mazlan Ahmad, who is standing as an Independent for the Kuah seat.
Mahdzir, who is former Padang Terap MP, said Kedahans were not only wise but moderate and when it came to voting, they knew who to vote at the state polls.
“I believed the wave has shifted to us. Kedahans need a functional government who can provide the best service to them,” he said.
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