BENTONG: The unity government pact has once again carried the day as Barisan Nasional’s alliance with one-time rival Pakatan Harapan helped it win the Pelangai by-election.
In doing so, Barisan has managed to stem the tide of Perikatan Nasional’s green wave in Pahang, which saw the Opposition coalition make historic inroads into the state during the 15th General Election (GE15) in November last year.
“Barisan’s victory will give the unity government pact a much-needed morale boost that is required to rejuvenate and unite the coalition,” said political scientist Prof Awang Azman Awang Pawi.
Barisan’s Datuk Amizar Abu Adam polled 7,324 votes, which roughly equals 61% of the 11,746 votes cast yesterday.
In GE15, the late Datuk Johari Harun garnered 7,308 or 57% of the 12,664 votes cast.
However, Election Commission data last night showed that Barisan and Pakatan cannot rest on their laurels, especially when it comes to Malay Muslim support.
Perikatan’s ethnocentrist rhetoric has won over more Malay Muslims in Pelangai’s three Felda schemes – once considered a bastion for Barisan’s lynchpin party Umno.
This is seen from the fact that Perikatan secured 4,375 votes yesterday, a 1,200-vote increase from the 3,260 it received in GE15.
Its share of the popular vote also went up to 37% as opposed to the 25% it secured in GE15.
Awang Azman of Universiti Malaya concurs with this assessment, saying that last night’s victory was not a comfortable victory and the green wave cannot be denied.
Nearly half of the 7,324 votes Barisan had garnered were thanks to Pakatan’s mostly non-Malay supporters in the polling districts of Telemong, Sungai Perdak and Sungai Gapoi, which together contributed about 3,000 votes.
For instance, in Telemong, a traditional Chinese village on the winding Karak-Kuala Pilah road, Perikatan only managed to garner 17 votes as compared to the 878 votes for Barisan.
In Sungai Gapoi, Barisan managed 772 votes as opposed to Perikatan’s 33.
During GE15, Barisan only received 504 votes in Telemung and 624 in Sungai Gapoi.
In contrast, EC’s data of polling districts in the Felda schemes of Chemomoi, Sungai Kemahal and Kemansul presented a different picture.
Barisan had lost in many voting streams that it dominated in GE15.
In Kemansul, Perikatan garnered 1,313 votes yesterday as compared with the 840 in GE15, beating Barisan in five voting streams and effectively capturing the scheme that the latter once controlled.
As for Kemahal, another scheme which Barisan dominated in GE15, Perikatan doubled its vote share to 1,039 from the 590 it received in GE15.
In comparison, Barisan secured 953 votes.
In the three settlements, Perikatan did especially well in voting streams meant for voters aged 18 to 50.
