PUTRAJAYA, May 7 — Despite the unprecedented turnout for Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) ceramah here last Friday night, incumbent Putrajaya MP Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor looks likely to keep the seat he has held since its creation in 2004.
There was much hype over the return of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to the federal administrative capital he helped established, but this time as leader of the Opposition and its candidate for prime minister if the pact wins Wednesday’s polls.
The turnout by the thousands was said to be an indicator of PH’s support among Putrajaya voters, the majority of whom are civil servants.
But Malay Mail’s interviews over the weekend revealed that the majority of the attendees were not actually from the constituency.
The crowd was mostly made up of voters from neighbouring areas such as Cheras, Kajang, Ampang, Seri Kembangan, Serdang, and even as far from Sentul and Klang. Many were non-Muslims, instead of the Malay-Muslims which make up 95 per cent of Putrajaya voters.
Voters interviewed during the ceramah said they were attracted to attend due to the return of Dr Mahathir, which many had viewed as a historic moment.
It is estimated that only a small number of people were actual civil servants from Putrajaya.
Ground checks conducted by Malay Mail showed that while voters here are aware of problems within the constituency, they are quite comfortable with the BN incumbent popularly known as Ku Nan their MP.
Among the issues highlighted by voters here were problematic parking and irregular frequency of public transport.
Putrajaya residents and those visiting always find it hard to park their cars whenever visiting government agencies or public facilities such as the hospitals.
While buses are available to get around, they are still infrequent and do not cover some places. It is even harder to get to and from Putrajaya with public transports — a choice between the expensive ERL trains, or slow intercity buses.
Other voters also complained about feeling the economic pinch.
With the lack of pre-schools and kindergartens, many have to send their children to private ones or those located outside the territory, which ended up draining an extra RM400 to RM500 from their monthly income.
Despite that, most voters rarely blamed the BN administration or Tengku Adnan for the problems they have faced for years.
Instead, they lack confidence that the Opposition candidates for Putrajaya — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Datuk Samsu Adabi Mamat and PAS’ Zainal Abidin Kidam — will even be able to help them.
PH, PAS candidates unknown to constituents
While voters here had these complaints, the majority maintained that they would still choose to iron out the problems with the current government, such as Siti Aisyah, 45, who has served the government for 11 years.
“Problems are everywhere, we will choose to fight it with the current government. Moreover, we are happy with the benefits as civil servants here. We are afraid if the Opposition will make a change and take that away.”
Another civil servant, who wanted only to be known as Jamal said: “The Opposition has yet to tell us what they can offer to us civil servants. So how are we to take the risk not knowing what we will get?
Both remarks came despite PH’s manifesto pledging to empower the civil service, and repeated denials against decreasing the number of civil servants and their benefits.
In a response to this during a walkabout, Zainal Abidin admitted there is a need for a “mentality change” among voters here, promising that PAS will be a better alternative to BN.
“Don’t be scared of change. We are not going to disrupt the current perks they are receiving from the government; in fact, we will offer better.
“They are too immune and have lost their identity thinking they belong to BN… so much so that they have forgotten their rights. We don’t merely have wishful thinking alone to run the country, we have competent people to make advancement better here.”
Voters also appeared sceptical of the two Opposition candidates, claiming they were hardly seen around the constituency before Nomination Day.
For some it was a stark contrast with Tengku Adnan who has always made an appearance during government-held events, and delivered handouts and birthday gifts to voters for years.
When Malay Mail mentioned the Opposition’s candidates’ names during the interviews, voters had instead asked for clarifications regarding the duo’s backgrounds and qualifications.
During the mega ceramah on Friday night, even the coordinator from the PH team itself had to ask Samsu Adabi to clarify his full name before introducing him to the attendees.
Banners and billboards featuring both Opposition candidates were only erected in the last few days. PAS and PKR flags could only be seen it certain places.
Blue BN flags overwhelmingly outnumber them, in addition to billboards with Tengku Adnan and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak erected all across the territory touting the former’s achievement as a federal territory minister.
In 2013, Tengku Adnan won against PAS’ Datuk Husam Musa by 5,541 votes, but in 2008, won against PAS’ Mohammad Nor Mohamad just by 2,734 votes.
