SEMENYIH, Feb 28 ― With just one day to go before polling, election fever appears to be catching here in anticipation of the two mega ceramah that will be held just 10km apart ― one by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and the other by the Opposition Barisan Nasional and PAS.
Both will be headlined by their respective “supreme commanders”, but with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad scheduled to appear, the ruling coalition is likely to get an extra jolt just before Saturday.
Each side is expected to draw crowds of about 1,500 people as their respective spaces ― Bandar Tasik Kesuma for PH and Bukit Mahkota for BN-PAS ― cannot accommodate more.
PH does not appear to have been very successful in coaxing the Malay voters out on the campaign trail this time, but Dr Mahathir’s appearance on stage tonight is anticipated to be a mood maker.
To many Malays, Dr Mahathir has been their source of inspiration and spirit. This is what PH campaigners on the ground have been hoping for the last 12 days of campaigning.
The delay in fulfilling its GE14 manifesto has cost PH its Malay voters since, though the biggest voter demographic group still has faith in Dr Mahathir’s leadership.
Another reason Malay voters have been keeping their distance from PH ceramah is their view that its youthful candidate Muhamad Aiman Zainali, 30, won’t be able to measure up to their past assemblymen, including his late father-in-law Bakhtiar Mohd Nor whose death from heart attack last January 11 triggered the by-election.
Dr Mahathir’s presence and speech tonight may spark an election fever, but it remains to be seen if it is enough for PH to win on the momentum this Saturday.
BN will not have PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang at its stage tonight, but the appearance of Umno acting president Datuk Seri Muhammad Hassan and PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahm Tuan Man will be enough to draw their stalwart supporters out.
Combined, BN and PAS can bank on a “fixed deposit” of 21,000-odd votes, based on last year’s general election.
With a total electorate of 54,503 voters, the Opposition will need roughly 2,000-odd more votes from the Malays to win.
And given their theme on Malay and Islam unity and rights, the Opposition will take whatever non-Malay votes as a bonus.
Both PH and BN are targeting the 36,857 Malay votes to win Semenyih.
PH is likely to have 95 percent of the 8,939 Chinese votes and 90 per cent of the 7,062 Indian votes in its bag, based on past election records.
BN is however vulnerable to new attacks in the last three days though more Umno leaders have joined the campaign trail to share the supposedly winning streak it is experiencing under Muhammad Hassan’s leadership.
But the BN’s decision to feature former Selangor Opposition leader Mohamed Satim Diman in its ceramah last night may have cooled some Malay voters’ reception towards them.
In a speech last night, Satim rubbed the audience the wrong way when he claimed that the deaths of PH’s elected representatives were a divine sign not to back the ruling coalition.
Such a view is considered uncouth among Muslims.
