MORE than half of the 51 federal seats in Felda settlements rejected Barisan Nasional in the recent general election.

Of the 26 seats that fell, 19 went to Pakatan Harapan (PH) while PAS picked up seven. The remaining 25 went to BN.

The non-BN parties had more than quadrupled its share of the Felda seats from six in 2013 to 26.

In 2013, then Pakatan Rakyat won Dungun, Kulai, Raub, Temerloh, Kuala Nerus and Sungai Siput, with BN winning the remaining 45.

The Felda vote fell because second-generation settlers managed to persuade their parents to vote for change this time, said Ilham Centre director Hisomuddin Bakar.

“The economic pressures, the attractiveness of PH’s manifesto coupled with the excitement surrounding the PH rallies captured their imagination which translated into votes.

“Another major factor was the BN campaign that did not attract any excitement and Felda voters punished them this time round,” said Hisomuddin.

Felda activist Mazlan Aliman said second-generation Felda settlers’ group, Anak, initially targeted only 20 seats with Felda schemes.

“This is a historical achievement by the Felda settlers who voted courageously for change,” said Mazlan.

He said the Felda settlers’ group worked very hard to ensure the victory for PH.

Mazlan said Dr Mahathir Mohamad obviously influenced Felda settlers, especially the first generation.

“His presence in the opposition camp has had the desired impact among the first generation. I doubt they would have been moved if not for him,” he said.

In the run-up to GE14, Felda was faced with several corruption allegations, such as the mysterious land transfer on Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur and the inflated purchase price of hotels in London.

Felda Global Ventures also saw a boardroom tussle between former Felda chairman Mohd Isa Samad and CEO Zakaria Arshad, which ended with Isa leaving the company and later investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for transactions related to the London hotels

Among the big Felda seats that fell to PH were MIC president Dr S. Subramaniam’s Segamat, MCA president Liow Tiong Lai’s Bentong and MCA vice-president Chua Tee Yong’s Labis.

Dr Subramaniam and Liow were the former health and transport ministers while Chua was the deputy minister for international trade.

Other notable loss was Kubang Pasu’s Mohd Johari Baharum, who was the deputy defence minister. – May 14, 2018.