IT’S a seven-way contest for the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat but the focus has entirely been on Barisan Nasional”s Khairy Jamaluddin and his Pakatan Harapan rival Ramanan Ramakrishnan.

What would have been a cruise for Pakatan Harapan has now turned out to be a battle with the caretaker Health Minister in the fray.

PKR stalwart Sivarasa Rasiah, held the seat since 2008, winning in the last general election with a vote margin of almost 27,000.

BN dropped Khairy from his three-term Rembau ward, giving the seat to the coalition’s deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan and instead parachuted the health minister to Sg Buloh, a PH stronghold. 

Ramanan, a former MIC treasurer-general replaced Sivarasa, who is now seen as the underdog against Khairy, who is a familiar and well-known name having served as the cabinet minister under two different government leaderships but little is known about Ramanan other than he was involved in a civil suit, which has since been settled.

He is the grandson of MIC stalwart Devaki Krishnan, the first woman to hold public office in pre-independence Malaya.

The PH candidate created a stir when he declared his assets to be more than RM60 million.

BN’s decision to field Khairy here led to talks that PKR might consider changing its candidate for the seat, wanting a “bigger” name but party’s president Anwar said the decision remains. 

Besides Khairy and Ramanan, Perikatan Nasional have named PAS’s Mohd Ghazali as candidate for the Malay-majority seat, while Pejuang named Mohd Akmal to represent them, hoping to bank on the Malay votes. 

Ahmad Jufliz Faiza, a lawyer, representing Parti Rakyat Malaysia, said he decided to contest for the Sungai Buloh seat specifically to take on Khairy, whom he claimed was the reason for some of the discrimination due to the Covid-19 vaccine policy.  

Of the two independent candidates, Syed Abdul Razak Syed Long Alsagoff quit as a Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) member before deciding to contest at Sungai Buloh using the key logo. He was also a former deputy speaker of Gerakan. 

Nurhaslinda Basri, a relatively unknown figure, is the other independent candidate there. 

Only posters, banners and flags of the three main coalitions - BN, PH and Perikatan Nasional (PN) are conspicuous while nothing much is visible among the other contesting parties and independent candidates. 

Top guns like Selangor BN’s chairman Noh Omar and Annuar Musa - both of whom were not given seats for the GE by their party – have shown support for Khairy by attending his Ceramah at the constituency, while Ramanan at most events and walkabouts is flanked by Paya Jaras assemblyman Mohd Khairuddin Othman and Kota Damansara assemblyman Shatiri Mansor.

Challenges 

Sungai Buloh, which stretches from parts of Subang to Kota Damansara will have close to 160,000 registered voters, with almost 67,000 of them being first-time voters. 

Although the charismatic Khairy, fondly known as KJ, has election and ministerial experience under his belt, the support in Sg Buloh may not completely be in his favour.

Even Khairy, who claimed to have come to Sg Buloh without an option, described the fight for the seat to be the “toughest of his political career”. 

Voters in Sg Buloh are said to be in dilemma over whom to vote, the Vaccine Minister or the PKR Rich-Man. 

The opposition narrative that “a vote for BN, is a vote for BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi” which would pave the way for the incumbent Bagan Datok lawmaker to become Prime Minister appears to have worked with some voters.

The Umno president has dismissed such claims, saying Ismail Sabri Yaakob will remain the coalition’s choice for the top post. 

Khairy has explained that a vote for him in Sg Buloh, is technically a vote for him and not Zahid. Khairy has also backed Ismail to continue leading the country. 

In a speech at Sg Buloh recently, Khairy, a former Umno youth chief, shared his ambition to lead the party and becoming the prime minister one day. 

But he said that he would need to win this election to have a chance to realise his ambitions later in the future. 

Both men have outlined their vision for the constituency

Khairy has pledged to look into matters related to education, flood mitigation, infrastructure and economic stimulus measures to elevate the people of Sungai Buloh.

For his part, Ramanan has offered to channel his MP’s salary for people’s welfare and religious institutions in the constituency if he was elected.

The PKR deputy information chief has proposed a ‘super sport centre’ for youth, including a venue for e-sports. 

Ramanan said he would also look into improving infrastructure such as the poor condition of existing roads and restructuring of petty traders to make them more organised. 

Voter sentiment

Voters in Sungai Buloh said they are split over whom to vote for this election in the constituency. 

Some who support PH for a specific cause claimed to be swayed by the ‘Khairy factor’ but at the same time, expressed their reluctance to vote for BN.

“KJ was a surprise choice here. When BN nominated him, I personally felt that they are killing his political career.”

“To me he is one of those rare politicians from BN who can deliver but the party he represents is what stops me from voting for him,” Roslee, a 56-year-old resident from Paya Jaras said. 

The father of four is still not convinced of Khairy’s assurance that voting for him is not a vote for Zahid. 

“KJ is no one in the party. We can see that he can’t even convince the party leadership to secure his Rembau seat.”

“From this, we can see Zahid, the president, has the power, not KJ. So, despite Zahid’s promise of naming Ismail Sabri Yaakob the candidate for the premiership, he can change his decision just like that,” Roslee said. 

Another voter from Kota Damansara, G. Palani also echoed Roslee’s view. 

He expressed his admiration for Khairy, calling him a “complete package” but from the wrong party. 

“He (Khairy) has the ability to be a great leader and we have seen that.”

“He is smart, intellectual and possess great qualities of a leader but I feel he is in the wrong party, which will be his downfall,” the 37-year-old said. 

Palani said he would have voted for Khairy if he was from another party. 

He claimed that Khairy’s and BN’s downfall will be because of Zahid. 

“I can’t digest that fact about Zahid potentially having the chance of leading the country. Khairy’s assurance is not convincing. I’m sorry.”

“Zahid will be the reason for BN’s defeat. If Zahid is no longer in the party, then it stands a chance given that other candidates do their work properly,” the production editor said.”

Roslee and Palani said although Ramanan is a new face in Sungai Buloh, the party he represents and Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister candidate appeals to him. 

“I’m not voting for Ramanan per se but the party he is in and definitely for Anwar Ibrahim,” Roslee said.”

Palani said he wants to vote for a change and give Anwar his opportunity to lead the country. 

“He (Anwar) was betrayed by his own party people the last time.”

“Let’s give him a chance to lead and let us assess it. If he performs poorly, next election we chose differently but if he performs well and there is a change and benefit to our country, why not keep him,” said Palani.

Danial Fazlee, 23, who will be voting for the first time, said it is no harm giving Khairy a chance to prove his worth here. 

“He has been one of the performing ministers for the past few years.”

“He never really got into political issues but focused on the public and country’s wellbeing. That shows his leadership skills,” Danial said. 

A week has passed post nomination and with only a week left to go, candidates will be working vigorously to persuade their voters. 

Can Khairy defy the odds to thump Ramanan in PH’s stronghold or will PH retain the seat and head to Putrajaya? Malaysia will know soon. 

Voters will cast their ballots on November 19. – November 12, 2022.