Every seat has a story

Party or person? There are more parties and candidates contesting in this election than ever before and people will have to decide whether they will vote along party lines or for candidates irrespective of which party they’re with. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star

That’s why no one can predict whether people will generally vote for a candidate or along party lines.

WOULD you vote for a coalition/party or the candidate? Or do both factor in?

In the 15th General Election (GE15), the choices in my constituency, the Penampang parliamentary seat, are (in the order they appear on the ballot paper): Paka-tan Harapan (specifically, component party Upko), independent, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (component party Sabah Star) and Parti Warisan.

The candidate choices are Datuk Ewon Benedick of Pakatan, Richard Jimmy who is an independent, Kenny Chua of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), and incumbent Datuk Darell Leiking of Warisan.

The simplistic arguments to vote for a party/coalition in this Kota Kinabalu-adjacent seat goes like this: Vote Pakatan if you want PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibra-him to become prime minister, support Warisan because it is a local party, or back GRS for stability.

The chatter among my family and friends about the candidates is: A is humble and down-to-earth, B is opportunistic, C is loaded and generous in pubs, and D tak turun padang (doesn’t go to the ground).

Do I vote based on the party/coalition or candidate?

Well, I’ve made up my mind: I’m voting for a humble and down-to-earth politician.

The dilemma of whether to vote based on a candidate or party/coalition is best illustrated in the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat in Selangor.

Caretaker Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin of Umno/Barisan Nasional faces Ramanan Ramakrishnan of PKR/Pakatan in a seven-cornered fight (go to bit.ly/star_list for a full list of candidates in all seats). It is a seat PKR has held since 2008. In GE14 in 2018, Sivarasa Rasiah of PKR won it with a margin of almost 27,000.

The don’t-vote-for-Khairy argument is based on the idea that a vote for him is a vote for Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to become prime minister. Team Khairy has countered that narrative by saying vote for the candidate not the party, and that a vote for him is a vote for a future prime minister.

The voters have to decide whether to vote against Khairy because of the party he represents or to vote for him because they want a dynamic, progressive politician who could one day be a prime minister.

The buzz I’m getting from Sungai Buloh is that Khairy has a chance despite the 2018 results. The voters seem to be inspired by his candidacy, and although some are pro-Pakatan, they are not that keen on its candidate, who is perceived to have a “dark” background.

In Kuala Lumpur’s Batu – where the much talked-about 10-cornered fight will take place – for PKR supporters, it looks like party loyalty will rule over a party icon who has gone rogue. They have to choose whether to support incumbent MP P. Prabakaran, a PKR candidate, or Tian Chua, who is contesting as an independent.

If Tian Chua were a Pakatan candidate, he would be a shoo-in for the seat he held from 2008 to 2018. But he would have a tough time explaining why PKR voters should support him now and not the party’s candidate.

If the voters’ decide to vote for a candidate and not the party, perhaps they’ll remember that Tian Chua was one of the party’s iconic leaders. The former PKR vice-president was dramatically dragged away by Federal Reserve Unit personnel during the Reformasi street protests in the late 1990s. But people could also ignore history and stay loyal to the party.

It is the same in Kota Kinabalu. GRS is fielding Yee Tsai Yiew of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) against incumbent Chan Foong Hin of Pakatan/DAP and three others.

Yee has one of the sleekest campaign videos among the candidates in Sabah. But Kota Kinabalu is an Opposition stronghold. When the video is shared on social media, comments show resistance from the voters – some cursing her just because they hate her party. The minds of those who hate the government are closed. However well Yee does in her video, anti- government supporters will not be convinced. They’ll vote for the party.

The Kota Kinabalu seat best illustrates the political saying, “If you field a buffalo to stand for X party, the buffalo will win”. For these voters, what matters is the party, not the candidate. They have a blind loyalty to the party/coalition and will close an eye to the flaws of the party’s candidate.

In some seats, the anger towards a candidate can’t be mitigated by the popularity of his/her party. If the voters are fed up with a candidate – for whatever reason, tak turun padang, non-performing, too long in the seat, etc – there will be a wave against him/her. It will be anyone but candidate X, regardless of the party.

Candidate, party/coalition, or both, you decide – every single of the 222 seats has its own intriguing backstory you should explore.