Trouble In Sg Panjang For Umno Incumbent Amid Green Wave

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STATE POLLS | Under the scorching Saturday sun, the Sungai Nibong beach in northern Selangor bustled with activity as weekend tourists flocked to its floating restaurants for seafood and ocean views.
Among them was the Umno candidate for Sungai Panjang Mohd Imran Tamrin and his team, who were there for a meet-and-greet session.
While some of the tourists in the restaurants recognised him and asked for group photos (above), others were introduced to him for the first time as a candidate.
Although the visit was friendly, it might have a limited effect on Sungai Panjang’s voter base, as many of the tourists come from other regions of the state, such as Bangi and Seri Kembangan.
With PAS making strong gains in the Sungai Nibong polling district during the last general election – securing nearly 60 percent of votes while BN only obtained 36 percent – Imran may need to invest more resources into his campaign to reverse the Islamist party’s advantage there.
A grassroots member of the Umno branch expressed confusion that Imran’s team didn’t adopt the party’s traditional campaign style of going house to house in residential areas.
“It’s confusing, they did not have a house-to-house campaign, the way they campaign is different,” the source said.
When asked about this, Imran asserted that such efforts were indeed underway.
“We have (house-to-house campaign). It is not necessary that the candidate will go house to house because the candidate has other things that need his attendance.
“Our machinery will go from house to house directly,” he said to Malaysiakini.
New allies
A lawyer by profession, Imran is the incumbent Sungai Panjang assemblyperson.
Sungai Panjang is one of two state seats under the Sungai Besar parliamentary constituency, located in the northern part of the Selangor coastline.
During the 15th general election last November, Sungai Panjang was one of the places where the “Green Wave” emerged.
At the time, Perikatan Nasional got 46.4 percent of the votes in Sungai Panjang, with BN trailing far behind with 29.3 percent of the votes.
However, Imran now has new allies from Pakatan Harapan to help him out in this election. If all Harapan voters in the area from GE15 (23.9 percent) shift to voting for Imran, he could easily defeat his opponent.
One of his new allies of note is Sungai Besar Amanah, whose chief Zainol Azmi was made the constituency coordinator after GE14 in preparation to contest Sungai Panjang.
Sungai Besar Amanah chief Zainol AzmiWith the resources provided by the state government, Zainol was able to organise events to meet voters in the area consistently for the past five years.
But the change in the political landscape post-GE15 threw a wrench into Zainol’s plans to contest Sungai Panjang, with Harapan and BN forming an alliance to counter PN.
Hence, Amanah was forced to give up the constituency to Imran as the incumbent.
“At first, he (Zainol) was a bit disappointed because he has done so much work over the past few years, with the allocation from the state government and people know him.
“Actually, people here are more familiar with Zainol than Imran,” said Sungai Besar Amanah central committee member Zairul Hafiz.
But he stressed that Amanah members there have accepted the decision from their party’s central leadership, with Zainol being directly involved in Imran’s campaign.
Aside from Zainol, other Amanah leaders as well as PKR leaders were seen joining Imran’s campaigning events, with Sungai Besar PKR parliamentary constituency coordinator Azhar Achil even organising a snooker tournament as part of Imran’s campaign.
DAP - from enemy to ally
Sungai Panjang has 81.2 percent Malay voters, 16 percent Chinese, 1.5 percent Indian, and 1.3 percent others.
Although Sungai Besar DAP and the team led by controversial Umno leader Jamal Yunos were previously on bad terms, their relationship seems to have improved since the federal coalition government was formed.
From Malaysiakini’s observations, the two are cooperating in the campaign for the state election to shift DAP’s Chinese support to Umno.
Bagan Sungai Besar DAP branch communication director Francis Chia told Malaysiakini that Jamal even hosted a dinner with DAP assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim and DAP grassroots.
Chia said his perception of Jamal changed after spending more time with him.
“Previously, I was annoyed when I looked at Jamal’s face like I saw an enemy. But after talking to him, I found that his personality is quite okay.”
Another DAP grassroots leader, who declined to be named, described Jamal as an opportunist whose stance changes according to the wind and that his previous antics were merely him putting on a show.
“I have known Jamal for a long time, I know what he is doing. Actually, his relationship with Ng Suee Lim is quite okay on a personal level. When Ng’s wife passed away, Jamal paid tribute,” the grassroots leader said.
The revamping of Jamal’s image seems to be working as several Chinese voters Malaysiakini spoke to in Bagan Sungai Besar said they have lowered their guard against Jamal and Umno.
On the contrary, they are more concerned about the spread of PAS’ influence.
When asked, Imran believes that 80 percent of Harapan voters are “transferrable” to Umno but when pressed on the percentage of Umno supporters that could be retained, he did not answer.
Umno’s backyard on fire
The six state elections mark the first electoral cooperation between Harapan and BN. While Chinese voters seem to be more accepting of the coalition government, leaders from both coalitions believe Malay voters still have their reservations.
If Umno supporters are unhappy with the alliance with Harapan, they may choose to vote for PN or not vote at all – which could mean BN risks a defeat in Sungai Panjang.
Imran previously admitted he heard that some disgruntled Umno members might protest silently by not voting for BN on the Aug 12 polling day.
On their part, PN has been capitalising on the “vote BN and get DAP” narrative, with PAS’ Sungai Panjang candidate Mohd Razali Saari telling Malaysiakini: “We target those members who cannot accept working with Harapan because voting for BN is voting for Harapan and voting for Harapan is voting for (Umno president Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi)”.
PAS Sungai Panjang candidate Mohd Razali SaariPAS influence grows
Razali – who is contesting a second time in Sungai Panjang – has a certain level of influence in the local community.
He is the principal of a private religious school founded by PAS as well as a therapist with alternative treatment centre Darussyifa’.
This was even acknowledged by a member of Imran’s team, who told Malaysiakini that Razali is quite influential among the students’ parents.
Besides his strong local connections, Razali’s team is adept at utilising social media platform TikTok, with the ustaz hosting a TikTok livestream every night to have real-time interaction with voters while delivering his political and religious messages.
Subdued response
In comparison, Imran does not appear to have left a lasting impression on voters.
During one of Imran’s campaigning at a weekend market, the voters’ response was subdued – they politely shook hands with Imran, exchanged greetings, and accepted campaign leaflets from his team.
Jamal, who arrived later, received a much more enthusiastic response from voters, prompting Jamal to explain that he is not the candidate.
“The candidate is over there,” Jamal clarified, to which the voter replied, “Sama je (It’s the same)!”
Some voters even requested a group photo with Jamal, prompting him to jokingly ask why he lost the last general election with so many people wanting to take pictures with him.
Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal YunosJamal contested the Sungai Besar parliamentary constituency in GE15 for BN. Based on GE15 voter data, the combination of BN and Harapan voters can beat PN.
However, elections are not static mathematical equations where one plus one necessarily equals two.
If PN continues to erode Umno’s Malay support base, not only do they have a chance to win in Sungai Panjang, they may make more breakthroughs in other similar Umno constituencies. - Mkini

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