WHY is it that come general elections, Barisan Nasional leaders almost always stand in rural or semi-rural seats, while their Pakatan Harapan counterparts in urban constituencies?

This perception is so ingrained that when Khairy Jamaluddin was fielded in urban Sungai Buloh in the upcoming general election, some pundits felt that the health minister was sent there to meet his political Waterloo.

This has been a trend for the longest time now and it is not a particularly healthy one. This election, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is defending his Bagan Datuk seat, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is in Bera, MCA president Wee Ka Siong is in Ayer Hitam and MIC president S.A. Vigneswaran is standing in Sungai Siput.

These are all non-urban seats.

At the other end of the spectrum, Anwar Ibrahim is standing in Tambun, just outside Ipoh.

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke is defending Seremban and Amanah president Mohamed Sabu is standing in Kota Raja, between Shah Alam and Klang.

This is why Khairy deserves utmost respect for his courage to move from his rural Rembau, where he has been MP for three terms, to Sungai Buloh just outside Kuala Lumpur.

Yet why does it matter where leaders stand? It affects policy decisions and political leanings that can have a far-reaching impact in our country’s future.

If leaders of a political bloc represent largely rural seats, they will tend to play to that gallery at the expense of urban sentiments.

For example, they may give disproportionate weightage to rural infrastructural development while paying much less attention to issues like judiciary independence, which resonates with urban voters.

Similarly, a political coalition which relies heavily on urban voters may be detached from the plight of folks in the interior, whose top concern is livelihood issues, not lofty ideals like media freedom or curbing China’s growing influence in the South China Sea.

Understandably, these are all a matter of political expediency. Leaders want to win in elections. Period.

Yet when two major opposing political blocs hold sway over voters along the rural-urban divide, it will only make this country even more polarised.

This is made worse given how rural seats are largely Malay-dominated, while urban ones have more non-Malay voters.

I think politicians from across the aisle should start getting out of their comfort zones. For a start, BN can start to field more mid-level leaders in urban seats, while PH do the same in rural areas.

They can start as early as next year when several states will go to the polls.

I hope that in my lifetime, I will see an Umno president winning in seats like Bukit Bintang and Cheras, while the DAP secretary-general winning in constituencies like Gerik or Pengkalan Chepa.

We need more Khairys who have the courage to step into unfamiliar territories, but voters must also play their part and reward these leaders by voting them in.

Only then, can we hope to have a more holistic development and bring down the political temperature, which has unnecessarily dragged this country down longer than it should. – November 9, 2022.

* Zulkifli Mohd Salleh reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.