Pakatan says lost battle, not war
They claimed PAS’s defeat in the state constituencies of Kerdau in Pahang and Merlimau in Malacca had not caused a chink in the pact’s armour, and did not mean the federal opposition had lost momentum ahead of national polls.
When approached in Parliament today, several PR lawmakers reasoned that both constituencies are traditional Barisan Nasional (BN) strongholds, adding that the ruling pact had been a shoo-in to win in both seats from the very beginning,
PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar also claimed that PAS’s participation in both the Kerdau and Merlimau contests had merely been “exercise” for PR’s election machinery.
“I do not see that we have lost our momentum to face the 13th general election. In both these by-elections, they were BN fortresses and they were just traditional losses for us,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
The Pokok Sena MP added that he had never expected PAS to win in yesterday’s contests and, hence, did not feel that the party or PR had suffered any losses from the defeats.
“I said before that our participation in the polls was merely to exercise our election machinery. It is not like we went in to win, just to exercise, so there were no losses for us,” he said.
“Even with their attacks and accusations against us, they only succeeded in lowering our votes by very little.
“With such a massive battalion, they should have done better,” he said.
PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said PR’s defeat last night was not an indication that the pact had failed to garner the support from the rural areas, particularly from the Malay community.
“I disagree because in areas that PKR covered, like in Felda Jengka 25, 22, we actually had a slight increase of votes... coming from the Felda heartland.
“What does this mean? It means that if we are able to work hard and communicate our messages and readiness to implement political transformation in these areas, even the Malay heartland, we can do it.
“It might be a minute detail but it is something that can be done,” she said.
She added that the small vote increase in the Felda areas was an “encouraging” detail but PR would have to work harder to ensure a better performance in the coming general election.
PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution said that much like the by-elections in Tenang and Bagan Pinang, both the Kerdau and Merlimau seats were traditionally BN’s strongholds.
“So it is not something that should cause us to feel shocked. Unless we lose in our fortresses, in places where we are the incumbent... like in Hulu Selangor or in Terengganu.
“But here, I think it is just a common phenomenon. We only need to study the vote majority according to the races,” he said.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng concurred with his colleagues’ views, adding that it was no surprise that BN had retained both seats.
“Pahang is a BN stronghold... that is why they managed to increase their majority,” he said.
MCA vice-president Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong also agreed that yesterday’s results did not spell the end for PR, warning BN against underestimating its opponents in the opposition.
“Their loss does not mean that they will not come back. We must not be over-confident.
“We must be a little conservative. A win is good but we need to think about what comes next,” he said.
When asked if he felt that BN was strongest only in rural areas, Wee said that it was important for the pact to be strong in all areas.
“If we are not doing well in urban areas, then we must strengthen our performance. At the same time, we must keep our support base in the rural areas.
“Whatever it is, when we come to the election, we must win in all 222 seats (in Parliament),” he said.
PR suffered its fourth and fifth by-election loss when polls closed in Merlimau and Kerdau yesterday, a major defeat for the coalition which had earlier been basking in continuous victories after emerging from a sterling performance in Elections 2008.
In yesterday’s elections, BN retained the Merlimau state seat when Umno’s Roslan Ahmad defeated PAS candidate Yuhaizad Abdullah with a majority of 3,643 votes. Roslan obtained 5,962 votes compared with Yuhaizad’s 2,319.
In Kerdau, BN candidate Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad defeated PAS candidate Hasanuddin Salim by a majority of 2,724 votes. Syed Ibrahim obtained 5,060 votes to Hasanuddin’s 2,336 votes. Source: The Malaysian Insider 6/3/2011
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