PAKATAN Harapan (PH) is banking on a Malay tsunami in Kedah to wrest the state from Barisan Nasional, believing its campaign trail has penetrated several Umno strongholds.

PKR Kulim Bandar-Baharu candidate Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said his team had managed to organise programmes and walkabouts in areas that he lost in the last general election.

“My area (Kulim Bandar-Baharu), for instance, is a Malay conservative area. The actual Malay tsunami on a large scale is still not obvious but we have penetrated several Umno strongholds, like Felda Gua Bongsu, Terap, Junjung.

“We did walkabouts in Taman Anggerik, Junjung, which is a Malay locality. We can enter areas that we lost.

“I consider this as part of the Malay tsunami, the moments that our party can penetrate Umno strongholds,” he told Malaysia Decides.

In 2013 polls, Saifuddin lost to incumbent And Aziz Sheikh Fadzir by 1,871 votes. Kulim-Bandar Baharu had 68% Malay voters in the 13th general election, followed by Chinese (19%) and Indians (13%).

Kedah PAS commissioner Ahmad Fakhruddin Sheikh Fakhrurazi, however, believed that PH would not be able to win with a huge majority, saying the people of Kedah could see the opposition pact’s election preparations and its political direction.

“The people can see that they only want to remove Najib Razak, objective matters cannot be seen, only political perception,” he said.

He said PAS meanwhile had always been consistent with its islamic agenda, something that Kedahans could relate to.

“Kedah’s people are affected by policies made at the federal level, matters that burden the people like GST (goods and services tax).

“They can see that the government makes so many promises that can’t be fulfilled,” he said.

He added that with a strong machinery of more than 12,000 people, PAS has the edge to capture Kedah from Barisan Nasional.

“The Kedah people are close to Islam and this will be the main factor why they will choose PAS this time around,” he said.

BN’s Kuala Kedah candidate Abdullah Hasnan Kamaruddin, meanwhile, downplayed PH chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s influence in the state.

“I think it will be hard for them because we have many loyal members who are still with BN, while the public can see our records, what we have done.

“Dr Mahathir’s influence may only be in Langkawi and not other places,” he said.

He also added that the ruling coalition just needed to win the hearts of 51% of the people to continue administering the state.

“It’s impossible to please everyone but the support is still with BN,” he said. – May 1, 2018.