A COMMUNITY-based organisation for Felda women is Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) latest election strategy as it revs up the offensive to snatch Umno’s vital vote bank.

Feldanita is the group formed by Persatuan Anak Peneroka Kebangsaan (ANAK) and led by Wanita PH to win over women voters in Felda settlements nationwide. 

“Our job is to extend our services to women in Felda. The main goal is to boost the role of women in nation building, including at policy-making level,” said PH Wanita Youth chief Anis Afida Mohd Azli, who heads Feldanita.

Anis said the influence of Felda womenfolk should not be underestimated, adding that more than half of the voters in 54 Felda parliamentary constituencies are women.

The new group will be competing with the existing Gerakan Persatuan Wanita (GPW), which is linked to the Barisan Nasional government, for the Felda women’s support. 

Felda settlements are home to 1.2 million voters, said political science professor Johan Saravanamuthu from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, and more than half of them are women. 

The opposition holds only six Felda parliamentary seats – Kulai (DAP), Pagoh (Bersatu), Raub (DAP), Temerloh (PAS), Dungun (PAS) and Sungai Siput (PSM).

In the next election, which must be called before August, PH is targeting 14 out of 50 marginal seats that are in Felda settlements. 

They are Tebrau, Segamat, Labis, Bentung, Bera, Hulu Selangor, Sik, Simpang Renggam, Sekijang, Jerantut, Cameron Highlands, Tanjung Malim, Jempol, and Alor Gajah.

International Islamic University Malaysia lecturer Dr Maszlee Malik said 52% of Malaysian voters were women and 70% of them voted for BN in the last general election. 

ANAK president Mazlan Aliman said only 15% women voters in Felda voted for the opposition in the last polls. 

“We need another 10% of the women’s vote for PH to win the seats so that the opposition can take Putrajaya,” the Amanah central committee member said. 

Maran Umno division deputy chief Shahaniza Shamsuddin admitted that it would spell the end for BN if the opposition managed to take the 23 parliamentary seats in Felda territory.

”In Pahang, there are 12 parliamentary seats in Felda areas. BN won 10. 

“At state seat level, BN won 27 and four went to the opposition,” he said. 

According to a source in the PH election operations room, the opposition coalition believes it has a strong chance of winning 31 Felda seats – eight in Johor, Pahang (7), Kedah (5), Negri Sembilan (3), two each in Sabah, Perak, and Terengganu, and one each in Selangor and Kelantan. 

Assisting, not politicising

But while Feldanita clearly appears to be a part of PH’s election plans, the 29-year-old Anis insisted that assisting Felda’s womenfolk was first on the agenda.

Herself a third-generation resident of Felda Air Tawar in Pengerang, Johor, Anis said women in Felda were especially vulnerable to social ills and crime.

“We are not playing politics with them,” said the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Skudai graduate.

She said due to their sheltered lives, many women in Felda settlements were “easy victims” for men, particularly foreigners at the plantations to work.

“Many settlers have grown old or died. The work on the estates are left to foreign workers. There are many foreign worker settlements inside Felda. 

“The consequence of that is rising crime and social problems. Women are easy victims for them. 

“So we want to focus on activities that can help reduce the effects of this problem on women,” said Anis. – December 9, 2017.