DAP will go all out to win over the Malay votes, especially the fence sitters, and try to retain the Chinese support to win the Bentong parliamentary seat in Pahang in the upcoming general election, analysts said.

They said the DAP candidate, Young Syefura Othman, is a well-known Pahang assemblyman and could probably sway young Malay voters in Bentong to vote for her.

However, they also warned that the move could backfire if Wong Tack, the incumbent, sticks to his plan to contest as an independent as the environmental activist could split the Chinese votes.

Last week, Wong announced that he would be defending the seat in the November 19 polls as an independent.

His announcement came just hours after his party, DAP, had announced former Ketari assemblyman Young Syefura as the candidate for the parliamentary seat.

The activist-turned-politician said he was informed by DAP that he would not fit into the party’s “grand strategy” for the general election.

He was absorbed to stand under the DAP banner in the last polls following his environmental activism, which he had undertaken through Himpunan Hijau, a group he chairs.

Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said DAP wants to win the Malay votes in Bentong while hoping that the Chinese would continue to support Pakatan Harapan (PH).

The academic said Barisan Nasional’s strategy to place former MCA president Liow Tiong Lai could hamper PH’s chances of retaining the seat.

“The seat is not a safe one for DAP. This time, they need to win the votes from the Malays, especially first-time voters and fence sitters. Last time, Wong Tack won by just 2,000 votes, and that is not so convincing,” he said.

“DAP is also hoping the Chinese will continue to support it, but Liow is a big name and a former MP there before he lost in 2018.

“It is interesting to see Young Syefura going against an old face such as Liow. Malays who back Umno will vote for BN. We will see who the new voters will vote for.”

Liow, a former health and transport minister, was the Bentong MP from 1999 to 2018.

No guarantee of Chinese votes

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Dr Mazlan Ali said there is no guarantee that the Chinese will vote for DAP due to party sentiments.

“Sometimes, the pattern is that voters would go for race rather than party. Like the Teluk Intan by-election, DAP named a Malay candidate against MCA’s Mah Siew Keong. The Malay candidate from DAP, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, lost,” he said.

“It is not so much about party sentiment, especially in places like Bentong, where Liow has a big influence and is considered a clean politician.”

Mazlan, however, agreed that DAP would try to get the Malays to vote for PH.

“This will be a tough fight. Young Syefura is well known and she has a position in DAP. The Chinese may consider that. Plus, her former state seat, Ketari, is under Bentong. She may know the people and the people, too, may know her for her work,” he said.

“I think BN and PH have a 50-50 chance of winning, but if I were to make a decision, I would place a Chinese from DAP in Bentong.”

Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, on the other hand, said MCA may hope for a repeat of the Johor and Malacca state election success where the Chinese seemed to have reverted in supporting BN.

He said Wong’s environmental credentials suffered a bit as the Lynas rare earth issue is still around despite DAP having been in government and had a minister in charge of environment.

“Wong Tack’s constituency service apparently leaves room for improvement. And as Young Syefura enjoys a youthful and robust popular appeal, it is only natural that DAP would like to field her over Wong.

“As some new village Chinese voters seemed to have reverted to MCA, as testified by the Malacca and Johor state election results, not to mention the massive back flow of Malay voters to Umno and by extension, MCA, Liow Tiong Lai would still stand a fighting chance.” – October 31, 2022.