FORMER Johor menteri besar Khaled Nordin is one of the names under consideration to be the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election. 

His supporters believe that Khaled’s popularity in Johor and his experience as a former elected representative and cabinet member would give the opposition the edge in the contest for the seat with Pakatan Harapan.

A Merdeka Centre survey in Johor in January last year had showed 58% of respondents were satisfied with Khaled’s performance as the menteri besar. Among Johor Malays, his approval rating was 78%.
 
About 80% of the survey respondents also said they were satisfied with Khaled’s administration while 68% thought Johor was ‘headed in the right direction’. 

BN’s defeat in Johor last year’s general election was due to the anti-BN wave sweeping the country, said political analyst Mohd Azlan Zainal.

Sources in BN said despite Khaled’s strengths, there were several factors that could prevent BN leaders from selecting him as the Tanjung Piai candidate.

Chief among these is that the seat is traditionally contested by Umno’s BN partner, MCA. Khaled is a member of Umno.

There are Johor Umno members who believe the party should contest Tanjung Piai this time around as it is a BN stronghold and most of the Malay voters, who make up 57% of the seat’s electorate, had backed the coalition in the general election.

BN’s Wee Jeck Seng suffered a surprise loss in Tanjung Piai to PH’s Md Farid Md Rafik by a narrow 524 votes. 

The Tanjung Piai Umno division has announced it wishes to contest the seat.

Those who want the seat for Umno said BN lost Tanjung Piai because most of the Chinese constituents, who comprise 42% of voters, had backed PH.  

“It does not look like the Chinese support is coming back to BN and the area has always been an Umno stronghold. MCA had always depended on us (to win),” said Johor Umno deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed. 

“Our machinery has always been in place and it’s just a matter of activating it,” said the former Pulai MP.

Jazlan confirmed Khaled was one the names in the hat for the fight.

International Islamic University Malaysia lecturer Dr Lau Zhe Wei said MCA would not be viewed favourably by the Chinese voters following the inking of the PAS-Umno charter on September 14.

The “muafakat nasional” (national consensus), as the charter is known, is widely seen by observers as a Malay-Muslim nationalist agenda in response to PH’s push for a Bangsa Malaysia.

Azlan, of think-tank Ilham Centre, said by taking the seat from MCA, Umno send the wrong signal to the non-Muslims BN hoped to win over that the dominant Malay party was again bullying its partner.

It will also contradict the message of unity and inclusivity that PAS-Umno pact hopes to convey, said Azlan.
 
“Umno and PAS have announced that their new political cooperation was towards a ‘muafakat nasional’,  that they want the support of all ethnic groups,” Azlan.

“If Umno takes the seat from MCA, it will conflict with this muafakat nasional message.”

 The other hurdle Khaled faces is that no matter how popular he may be in Johor, he is still considered an outsider’in Tanjung Piai, said a Johor Umno official.

“By-elections tend to be local in nature and that’s why we’ve always fielded local people who know the area and its people,” said the official, who requested anonymity.

Azlan agreed, pointing out that the former MCA MP Wee was a local boy.

“Wee has influence in Tanjung Piai. He’s well known and accepted among Malays and Chinese.”

The by-election is called following the sudden death of the incumbent Farid. The Election Commission is expected to fix the date next week. – September 24, 2019.