THE Batu parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur has come under the spotlight as the number of candidates wanting to win this urban seat with mixed voters keeps rising.

As it stands, PKR, which wrested the seat for the first time from Barisan Nasional (BN) in 2008, is in the lead.

However, the party is said to be undecided on the choice of its candidates, said observers.

The incumbent lawmaker at this seat is P. Prabakaran, who won in the last general election as an independent with the support of Pakatan Harapan (PH), and had then joined PKR.

He is now also the Batu PKR division chief, ousting party veteran Tian Chua.

Prabakaran, at 26, is currently the youngest ex-MP.

As for Tian Chua, he was the Batu MP for two terms prior to the 2018 general election, but was disqualified as a candidate by the Election Commission returning officer on account of a RM2,000 fine imposed on him for a criminal case in 2017.

In 2019, the High Court ruled that Tian Chua’s disqualification as an election candidate was invalid and that he was free to contest in future polls.

He is now said to be eyeing the Batu seat again.

So far, three other individuals have made known their interest in contesting in Batu. They are activist cum lawyer Siti Kasim, Nathan Pillai from Warisan and social media influencer Nur Fathiah Syazwana Shaharuddin, who is popularly known as Cleopatra.

Both Siti and Nur Fathiah are independents.

Siti, 59, represents Gerakan Independent and has said she wants to help the voters raise bread-and-butter issues such as the rising cost of living.

As for Nur Fathiah, she announced her candidacy on social media, saying that she wants to raise community issues and increase economic activities in the constituency.

The director for a defence and security company has also said she would focus on parking and congestion issues near the People’s Housing Project flats in Batu.

Nathan of Warisan, meanwhile, told The Malaysian Insight that his main aim is to lift the local economy.

Apart from these candidates, Perikatan Nasional (PN) is also expected to run in the seat while MIC has indicated its readiness to contest under the BN banner.

Batu had been a Gerakan stronghold as the party had contested under the BN banner since Batu was first established as a constituency in 1984. The party then left BN after the 2018 general election, and last year, joined PN.

However, this time around, the word is that Gerakan will not stand in Batu, allowing either Bersatu or PAS to represent PN.

For BN, if MIC is given the go-ahead, the favourite to contest is Federal Territory MIC chief S. Rajah.

And there could still be other independents joining the fray.

‘It will be PH v BN’

The Batu constituency is estimated to have 112,000 voters, after those aged between 18 and 20 are added in the mix with the automatic voter registration.

Its ethnic composition sees Malays making up 43%, followed by Chinese (30%), Indians (20%) and others (7%).

Political observers believe that many parties are vying for the seat because the area has a mix composition of races and the possible rift between Tian Chua and Prabakaran, which will split PH’s votes.

Dr Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said the battle in Batu will only be between BN and PH as he predicted that other parties would not stand a chance in the constituency.

The academic said PN has no prospect of winning the seat.

“PH has the upper hand in Batu. It has held on to the seat for some years now. It would be a challenge for BN to come to Batu and win,” he said.

On Warisan’s hope of wresting the seat from PH, Mazlan said it would be far-fetched for the party to cause an upset.

“Warisan is still seen as a Sabah-based party. I don’t see how it can make an impact on the peninsula,” he said. 

“Look at Johor state elections, where Warisan lost all of its deposits. Even Pejuang, led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, could not get a win (in Johor), so how can Warisan?

“In the end, it is PH versus BN (for Batu) with PN causing some problems by splitting the votes.

“Indeed, Batu is now a PH stronghold. Given the increase of voters (Undi18) percentage, it is hard to see PH losing, but there is a possibility.

“If PKR does not handle the internal conflict between Tian Chua, who is said to be vying for the seat, and Prabakaran, as the incumbent, voters might vote for BN for the sake of stability.

“Batu is interesting because of its ethnicity. You have all races in one constituency. Moreover, this is an urban seat; it makes sense why every party wants it.”

International Islamic University Malaysia’s Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said Batu is probably attracting many parties because they sense a division in PKR’s base when Tian Chua offered himself to contest there.

“The incumbent (Prabakaran), whose victory was ‘accidental’ because Tian Chua was disqualified, has made a name for himself when he defeated Tian Chua for the division’s leadership in the recent party election,” he said.

“Probably sensing disunity in PKR, other parties are training their guns on the constituency.” – October 27, 2022.