JOHOR BARU: Just like in the recent six state elections, the Barisan Nasional vote will make or break Pakatan Harapan’s chances in the Pulai parliamentary by-election and there are early signs that it will be the women who will deliver.
Pakatan and Barisan leaders said that from their outreach towards Barisan’s supporters over the past one week, it is the women who are more open to transferring their vote to Pakatan compared with men.
DAP national publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching said the women wings from Pakatan and Barisan have been working together to canvass for support among female voters.
“I can feel the acceptance of Pakatan’s candidate for Pulai, Suhaizan Kayat, among the Wanita Umno wing as a candidate from their own party,” said Teo, who is also Deputy Communications and Digital Minister.
“The support of Wanita Umno is still very strong towards their party – I can even say it is stronger compared with the men – so they actually would play an important part in ensuring Pakatan’s win in the by-election,” she told reporters after attending the Johor Unity Wanita Assembly at the Cerebral Palsy Association hall here yesterday.
There are 166,653 voters in Pulai and almost half are women, added Teo.
The by-election is being contested by Suhaizan, Perikatan Nasional’s Zulkifli Jaafar and Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi.
During the 15th General Election (GE15) in November last year, Pakatan’s Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub managed to garner 64,900 votes, which gave him a 33,174 majority over Barisan-Umno’s Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed (31,726 votes) and Loh Kah Yong from Perikatan-Gerakan (20,677 votes).
Pakatan and Barisan are now allies in the federal-level unity government pact, but ties among their grassroots members have been testy because of the long, often vicious rivalry between them before GE15.
Think tank Ilham Centre said that in last month’s state elections in Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan, many Barisan supporters either abandoned the coalition or refused to vote for Pakatan.
Perikatan’s many victories in the six states were also due to the votes they received from Barisan supporters, Ilham Centre said.
Its executive director Hisomuddin Bakar had said that if this trend continues, it would affect Pakatan’s chances in the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections.
Teo’s observation on women’s support for Pakatan was echoed by Johor Wanita Umno chief Asiah Md Ariff, who said the feedback her members have received from voters has been encouraging.
“As Wanita Umno, we are the main pillar to convince the hardcore Barisan supporters to give their vote to the Pakatan candidate,” said Asiah, who oversees a machinery of more than 1,000 Wanita Umno activists.
“The response from my wing has been good so far and what we have to do is to keep explaining to voters about the unity government and how winning the Pulai seat can help to defend our two-thirds majority in Parliament.
“If the Pulai seat is won by Pakatan on Sept 9, the number of seats in the unity government will be 148, which will mean that we still command a two-thirds majority.
“So, my advice to the women in Pulai is make sure you go out and vote on Sept 9,” she added.
Asiah said one of the narratives being spread among Umno voters was that a vote for Pakatan would spell the doom of Umno in Johor.
“That is not the case. Only people outside of Johor will say such things, but we will work hard to counter this.
“The women in Barisan and Pakatan must work together and clear all doubts among voters,” she added.
Pulai is a mixed seat with Malays making up 44.18% of the total number of registered voters, followed by the Chinese (40.46%), Indians (12.31%) and other ethnicities (3.06%).
It is being held together with the Simpang Jeram state seat by-election, both of which fell vacant with the passing of Salahuddin, who was Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister.
