The Malaysian Insight is running a series on marginal parliamentary seats as the nation heads towards the 14th general election. In Temerloh, we look at how BN is poised to take over this central Pahang seat.

IN the past few months, Abdul Hadi Awang has boasted about PAS winning as many as an unprecedented 40 parliamentary seats in the next elections.

The Islamist party leader’s hyperbole will be tested in Temerloh where Barisan Nasional is on track to recapture the seat it lost to PAS in 2013.

The difference between GE13 and GE14 is like night and day. Five years ago, PAS was part of the opposition coalition and it was on ‎the back of that Chinese and Indian voters supported PAS’ Nasruddin Hassan and gave him a 1,070 majority.

Analysts said non-Muslims – who make up 35% of the voters here – are expected to shun PAS now that it has severed ties with DAP and PKR.

Now that PAS is going at it alone as part of the Gagasan Sejahtera coalition, Temerloh’s more than 66,000 voters could be split three ways among BN, PAS and Pakatan Harapan.

The conventional thinking is that three-cornered contests generally favour BN because those likely to vote for the opposition will split their votes between PH and PAS.

Also helping BN is the fact that it is likely to field senior Pahang exco Mohd Sharkar Shamsuddin‎, a familiar face in Temerloh.

Sharkar, who is also Pahang Umno deputy chief, is a three-term assemblyman of Lancang, one of the three state seats under Temerloh.

In GE13, Umno garnered more than 50% of the Malay vote in Temerloh.

Muhammad Saleh Aziz, a state government officer based in Temerloh, said Sharkar has the best chance of retaking the seat for BN given that the coalition can win most of Temerloh’s Malay vote.

“It’s difficult to expect PH to win many Malay votes here without PAS. BN could probably retake Temerloh and all the seats under it in GE14.”

Temerloh, famed for its thriving ikan patin industry, has three state seats – Lancang, Mentakab and Kuala Semantan.

PAS is unlikely to field current Temerloh MP Nasrudin Hassan. Residents have complained that he is rarely seen in the constituency except on Wednesdays, when he delivers a sermon at a local mosque.

In a previous The Malaysian Insight visit to Temerloh, other residents also complained about Nasrudin. 

The MP is also rarely seen in Parliament except for the tabling of a bill to enhance shariah punishments popularly known as RUU355.

Pahang PAS deputy chief Andansura Rabu said: “We want to field locals as this was requested by members but the final decision will be up to the top leadership.”

PH will be fielding a candidate from Amanah for the seat. The coalition consists of DAP, PKR, Bersatu and Amanah.

“We have submitted two possible choices to the party leadership and they are both locals (for the Temerloh seat),” said Pahang Amanah chief Hamzah Jaafar, who declined to identify the individuals.

It is learnt that one of the names is Syed Hamid Syed Mohammad, the current Kuala Semantan assemblyman who switched from PAS to Amanah.

The two-term assemblyman is also Pahang Amanah deputy. – February 19, 2018.