PAKATAN Harapan’s strategy of fielding Anwar Ibrahim and several big guns in Perak could trigger a wave for the coalition to regain control of Putrajaya, analysts said.

They told The Malaysian Insight that the PKR president’s charisma and the voter demographics in many mixed seats in Perak could help the coalition achieve that goal.

Malaysians vote on November 19. The three state legislatures assemblies of Perak, Perlis and Pahang are also going to the polls on that day.

Political analyst Mazlan Ali expects Anwar’s candidacy in Tambun to create a domino effect which will spread to other parliamentary constituencies in Perak.

“As the leader of the opposition and a longtime leader with an excellent record in elections, I think Anwar’s decision to contest in Tambun can create waves.

“This will also be seen by voters as an opportunity for Perak to have a representative (who can be prime minister).”

“The people’s imagination will be fired up at the possibility of having a prime minister from Perak for the first time in the country’s history,” he said.

Mazlan said adding to PH’s chances was that Perak was also one of the states in the peninsula with a large number of parliamentary seats, with a total of 24 constituencies.

“If PH succeeds in winning many parliamentary seats in Perak and the state assembly, Perak may return to PH rule. It only fell to Barisan Nasional after the Sheraton move which saw some of its assemblymen shift support to BN.”

“If PH captures the bulk of the parliamentary seats in Perak, it can contribute to the formation of a federal government in Putrajaya,” he said.

He said the strong support for non-Malay voters and fence sitters for PH will also help it recapture the Perak state legislative assembly.

Mazlan expects that success will be driven by how the first-time voters and 18-year-old voters vote in the polls.

“There is an increase in the support of Chinese voters and fence sitters for PH, but for the first time 18-year-olds can swing it to PH,” he said.

“New voters can influence the direction of the election and influence the political landscape.”

In the Tambun parliamentary constituency, a total of 52.8% of voters fall in the 18 to 39-year-old group, out of a total of 160,558 voters in the area. The remaining 75,648 voters are aged 40 and above.

In GE14, incumbent Ahmad Faizal Azumu won on the PH ticket, when Bersatu was part of the coalition. He polled 38,661 votes and won with a majority of 5,320 votes.

Faizal this time is entering the fray on a Perikatan Nasional (PN) ticket, after Bersatu left PH.

With Anwar’s participation, it will be difficult for him to reel in the votes he received from PH supporters in GE14.

The Tambun seat pegs the Malay vote at around 67%, Chinese (20% ), Indian (11%)  and others (2%)

However, Mazlan said if PH failed to capture Perak, it will show that the coalition is still struggling with its 22 months performance when it held Putrajaya, said Mazlan.

“It simply means they are struggling with justifying their track record and performance at the Federal and state levels,” he said.

Universiti Sains Malaysia Azmil Tayeb academic said PH’s victory in Perak could also be a benchmark to show that every strata of voters had accepted the coalition.

“Perak has many mixed areas, Malay majority areas and rural areas. PH’s victory in Perak can be used as a sign that PH is accepted by various types of society.”

“But if it fails, PH will still be known as a coalition that is only supported by non-Malay and urban voters,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Apart from Anwar, PH has fielded former PKR information chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin against Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in Bagan Datuk.

Shamsul has a reputation as being a ‘giant killer’ for successfully defeating former Malacca chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam in the Hang Tuah Jaya seat in GE13.

Nik Omar Nik Abdul Aziz who is the son of former PAS mursyidul am and Menteri Besar, is also a PH candidate who is contesting in Pasir Salak. – November 9, 2022.