True colours shining through?

Watching brief: Ahmad Faizal (left) with Anwar in Tambun during GE15. The Bersatu deputy president says he’s now waiting for Anwar’s ‘ideas to lead the country’. — RONNIE CHIN/The Star

AFTER the six state polls, will we see the true colours of our politicians?

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu says that politicians who wear capal (sandal) will wear branded loafers after the upcoming state elections in Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Selangor and Terengganu.

His argument is they have to “behave” for their coalition – or coalition of coalitions – to win seats.

He points to PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli as an example of a politician displaying his true colours after coming into power. When the Pandan MP was in Opposition, the people thought he was like an economic wali (holy person), said Ahmad Faizal.

“But now that he is Economic Affairs Minister, he is ‘destroying’ the economy by saying customers should boycott food outlets that charge ‘unreasonable’ prices. Now the rakyat sees that the economic formula he talked about doesn’t work,” he said.

Ahmad Faizal also believes that the Federal Government – like other administrations before – will delay tough economic decisions so that conditions are favourable for it as polls begin in the six states.

“The country is facing economic problems. The government faces the huge task of collecting taxes as our economy is not good,” said the politician, widely known as Peja.

Ahmad Faisal lost his seat in Tambun, Perak, to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by a 3,736 majority in the 15th General Elections (GE15) in November. Since then he has been keeping a close eye on the new leader and says it’s surprising that after three months in power, Anwar has not come up with that one great idea that would set his administration apart.

“Anwar had 25 years in Opposition to think about new ideas to implement when he became PM. He should have A, B, C, D, E ideas to lead the country,” Ahmad Faisal said.

Three of the six states – Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu – are controlled by Perikatan Nasional, which consists of Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan and SAPP (the Sabah Progressive Party). On when he would prefer their assemblies should be dissolved, Ahmad Faizal said he prefers for snap polls to be called – “The momentum for Perikatan is at its peak now,” he said.

But practically, for the country, in terms of costs, it would be better to hold six elections simultaneously rather than at different times. He forecasts that such simultaneous state polls will be held in the second half of the year.

The former Tambun MP believes that Perikatan has a big chance to retain Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu: “We should be all right. I won’t say landslide, and we will need to work hard,” he said.

For Penang, Ahmad Faizal expects the DAP state government to hold onto its stronghold. However, he does believe that some Chinese voters are upset with the DAP leadership’s decision to form a Unity Government with Umno.

“In GE15, these voters believed that Umno was full of kleptocrats, and DAP told them that it would not work with the Umno president [Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi], but now DAP and Umno are together in the Federal Government,” he pointed out.

“I am pretty sure some of them will choose Perikatan.”

“But not enough to form the state government?” I asked.

“I hope it will be enough to form the government. There is nothing wrong with Gerakan,” he said.

I laughed, and Ahmad Faizal said, “You gelak [laugh] at Gerakan?”

“In politics, anything is possible. It is just a matter of strategy,” I replied.

As for Negri Sembilan, the Bersatu deputy president believes that Perikatan could win over Umno seats. His argument is that Umno performed well in the state in GE15 as voters were hoping that Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, who is from Negri Sembilan, would become deputy prime minister.

“But now they are hurt as Mat Hasan has said that he will fight Zahid if Umno worked with DAP but in the end, Mat Hasan accepted a minister’s post. He has broken his promise. (Mat Hasan is Defence Minister.)

“The Malays might decide they don’t want to support leaders like Mat Hasan,” he said, referring to the Rembau MP Mohamad’s nickname.

On the argument that Pakatan Harapan doesn’t need Umno seats in Negri Sembilan as it controls the state, Ahmad Faizal said PKR voters are happy that Anwar is the Prime Minister.

“But Amanah voters and DAP sympathisers might not be as Umno is still in power [at the Federal level]. We are the alternative,” he said.

“We have some good young leaders in Negri Sembilan who should be given a chance. Our chances of winning the state are very fair.”

Ahmad Faizal is also upbeat about Perikatan’s chances in Selangor. He claimed that supporters of sacked Umno warlord Tan Sri Noh Omar, who was a former Selangor Umno chief, and sacked Khairy Jamaluddin, who was Umno youth chief, might go up against the leadership of their former party.

“They are thinking seriously about supporting Perikatan,” he said.

But how will Perikatan win mixed seats in urban constituencies in Selangor?

“Not easy, but there are 31 Malay-majority seats in Selangor. You need 29 seats to form the state government, so it is a fair chance for us,” he said.

“It will be tough to win mixed seats, but we will put up strong candidates.”

When asked how long he thinks the Federal Government will last, Ahmad Faizal laughed and said he wouldn’t want to guess.

“I really hope that whoever is in the driving seat would give all to the nation and not to themselves,” he said.

Will more politicians wear branded loafers and suits after the state elections?