The Malaysian Insight is running a series on marginal parliamentary seats as the nation heads towards the 14th general election. In the second part on Muar, we show how voters are divided over Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s presence in the Pakatan Harapan coalition.  

WAN Ali Wan Yusoh has voted in 13 general elections but none is giving him as much headache as the 14th polls.

Why? Having to choose between a scandal-tainted ruling coalition and an opposition coalition helmed by a leader with his own chequered past and an Islamist party that does not seem to have its act together. 

The 76-year-old’s ambivalence about the partisan choices is echoed by other voters in the Muar parliamentary seat, which Barisan Nasional won by a slim majority of 1,646 votes in the 13th general election five years ago. 

Their feelings reflect the hard task Pakatan Harapan still faces in convincing voters to accept the coalition after they announced Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister-designate. 

The father of four used to be an Umno member but left when Dr Mahathir was in power.

“I might vote for BN if Abdul Razak (Hussein) is still around but the current administration is not doing well in addressing people’s woes. So, I don’t know,” said Wan Ali, when met at a programme by PH party Amanah in Muar recently.

“Right now, I still have to work to fend for myself and wife. What does that tell you?” asked Wan Ali of the fact that his pension is not enough to feed him and his wife.

Wan Ali’s sentiments are shared by Fong, a businessman who owned a shop selling recycled items.

“If you ask me, both (BN and PH) are bad. Not so sure who I will pick. I might not cast my vote,” said Fong.

“The opposition went on to work with Dr Mahathir. He had done many things that were bad in my eyes. He did it for 22 years.

“What is the guarantee he will not commit the same mistake and implement the same rule? As for the government, I have nothing much to say,” said Fong.

Umno bastion    

The Muar parliamentary constituency has about 48,000 registered voters. It has two state seats –Maharani and Sungai Balang.

In GE13, Deputy Minister Razali Ibrahim managed to retain Muar by 1,646 votes, down from his previous winning majorities of 4,661 in 2008 and 13,415 in 2004.

Ishak Abu Bakar of Amanah, a PH component party, said the coalition is confident of capturing Muar in GE14 based on the declining support for BN in the past three polls.  

“The challenge is to get more Malay votes,” said Ishak, who is from the Amanah Muar division.

PH picked Dr Mahathir as its prime minister candidate based on the belief that he is popular among rural Malay Muslims.

But getting Johor Malays to abandon Umno is no small feat as they are renown for being staunch supporters given the state’s history of being Umno’s birthplace.

Taxi driver Ariffin Jaafar is an example of Johor’s long-standing love of Umno.

“We are very old school in Muar. Umno is in our blood. If the father supports Umno, the children will follow suit. We are loyalists,” said the 52-year-old.

“Umno was born in Johor and we are very respectful of our leaders. Furthermore, Johor, in general, is an Umno stronghold,” he said.

Despite respecting Dr Mahathir, who helmed Umno for 22 years, Ariffin said he would not gamble with PH on his future.

“Dr Mahathir’s aura can be felt among Muar folks. He is our idol but the problem is that he has changed. The fact is Johor is owned by Umno,” said Ariffin.

His friend, Zulkarnain Ismail, 41, meanwhile, is not afraid with change.

He looked at Dr Mahathir’s presence within PH as a boon for the coalition.

“We need change. It has been too long. Let’s see how the next government leads the country. We should give them four years,” said Zulkarnain, adding that BN has failed to take care of the people’s needs. – February 13, 2018.