PAKATAN Harapan will kick off its “100 days before GE14” campaign with a series of ceramah, beginning at the opposition-held seat of Gelang Patah and then onwards to MCA territory as part of an offensive to take down the second largest party in Barisan Nasional.

Saturday night’s event in Skudai, in DAP’s Lim Kit Siang’s constituency of Gelang Patah, will feature Lim alongside PH deputy presidents Mohamad Sabu and Muhyiddin Yassin, and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar.

The next day, PH will venture into “enemy territory” with a string of back-to-back events at the MCA-held constituencies of Ayer Hitam and Bentong.

Bentong is held by MCA president Liow Tiong Lai, who narrowly won the seat in the 2013 elections, while Ayer Hitam is the stronghold of MCA deputy president Dr Wee Ka Siong.

According to DAP Johor’s chairman Liew Chin Tong, the coalition will launch its Ayer Hitam election centre at 5.30pm on Sunday, before holding its second pre-GE14 ceramah in Bentong on the same night.

DAP’s Ubah lorry will feature at both the Skudai and Bentong events, he said.

“The Ayer Hitam election centre will be launched by Mohamad Sabu and Lim, while the Bentong ceramah will feature several big guns from DAP,” said Liew.

Calculated siege

PH is eyeing several “weaker” seats held by BN parties, and Bentong is at the top of the list.

“If we are going to take the fight to BN, we might as well start with seats like Bentong,” Liew told The Malaysian Insight.

In the 2013 general election, Liow narrowly defeated Lynas activist-turned-politician Wong Tack by 379 votes, or a mere 0.6%.

The transport minister polled 25,947 votes to Wong’s 25,568 in the 45% Malay-majority, Chinese (44%) and Indian (9%) seat.

PH also believes it will give MCA a run for its money at Ayer Hitam, a traditional stronghold for BN, said the insider.

In a recent survey of the constituency, one resident told The Malaysian Insight that BN would win hands down even if it fielded “a bottle of soy sauce”.

But PH said the opposition should not be dismissed just yet, as the number of people who voted for Wee in 2013 was almost halved from the 12th general election.

The minister in the prime minister’s department defeated PAS’ Hu Pang Chaw by 7,310 votes, compared with the 13,909 majority he obtained in GE12.

The seat consists of 56% Malays, Chinese (38%) and Indians (4%).

For GE14, the seat was allocated to DAP, but sources said negotiations are still ongoing and there is a good chance that an Amanah candidate is fielded against Wee.

“It’s not finalised yet but Amanah has a few good leaders who can challenge for Ayer Hitam. A few names that have been bandied about are Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli and Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who is a Johor native.

“There’s even talk about another candidate from DAP contesting in Ayer Hitam,” said Liew. – January 25, 2018.