THE Barisan Nasional candidate in the Sg Kandis by-election, Lokman Noor Adam, is only being realistic when he admits he doesn’t stand much chance of wresting the state seat from PKR.

However, the Umno leader is wooing Malay voters who make up 71% of the electorate to swing towards the opposition.

It will be difficult for BN to win even with the combined votes garnered by Umno and PAS in the 14th general election, he said. 

“If we cannot get 80% of the Malay voters to turn up, 80% of Indian and MCA voters to turn up, I have no chance of winning.

“That’s why we need to ensure all the voters will return and vote,” he told some 50 Umno members gathered at the Andalas polling district centre last night. 

In GE14, Shuhaimi Shafiei, who died on July 2 from lymphoma cancer, got more votes than the BN and PAS candidates combined. 

Shuhaimi polled 23,998 votes against BN’s Kamaruzzaman Johari (11,518) and PAS’ Yusof Abdullah (7,573). PRM’s Hanafiah Husin mustered only 76 votes out of 50,800.

Lokman, who is also an Umno Supreme Council member, said Sg Kandis voters must send a clear message that they could no longer tolerate attempts to undermine Islam and the position of the Malay rulers, Malays rights and Bahasa Melayu as national language. 

“People will use this by-election platform to punish Pakatan Harapan for practising political vengeance and because they have lied to Malaysians,” he said. 

Earlier, Lokman played up racial and religious politics, claiming among others, that the appointment of Attorney-General Tommy Thomas would threaten Islam and there were attempts to abolish the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim). 

The Pakatan Harapan government had denied that it would scrap the Islamic institution. 

“This is a mission impossible because previously, they (PKR) won because they relied on slander. 

“Help BN, not me, help defend our religion and the dignity of the Malays. Please make sure all your family members come back to vote,” he said.

Lokman is a vocal PH critic. He is also a staunch defender of former prime minister and Umno president Najib Razak, who faces corruption charges in connection with the multi-billion-ringgit 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

Lokman also formed Pemantau Malaysia Baru (Pemantau) “to keep a check on the new government”.

The Sg Kandis by-election will see a three-cornered fight between Lokman, PKR’s Zawawi Ahmad Mughni and independent K. Murthy. The seat is the result of redrawn electoral boundaries and previously known as Seri Andalas. 

The constituency was previously a mixed seat with 51,230 voters comprising 51,217 ordinary voters and 13 overseas voters. 

In terms of racial composition, 71.34% are Malays, Indians (15.69%) and Chinese (11.75). Polling is on August 4. – July 23, 2018.