An analyst says the party risks defeat if it fights in battles that BN traditionally entrusts to other component parties.
PETALING JAYA: A political analyst has advised Umno to resist the temptation to take over from other Barisan National parties in fights for certain risky seats in the coming general election.
Awang Azman Pawi, an associate professor at Universiti Malaya, told FMT that he believed some people were hoping Umno would replace MIC and MCA in some election battles just to see the Malay party defeated and be condemned as no longer relevant.
“The opposition has ceaselessly said that these parties are irrelevant and this rhetoric might tempt Umno to replace these parties in constituencies which should be rightfully theirs.”
He mentioned Klang as an example, saying Umno might think it stood a better chance there than MCA, especially in the event that PAS enters the contest to cause a three-corner fight.
BN traditionally lets MCA contest in Klang, where Chinese voters make up 46% of the electorate and Malays account for 32% and Indians 20%.
Awang Azman said some strategists in Umno might be thinking that BN could retake Klang if the Malay votes were to be split three ways.
“However, since the Chinese voters make up more than 40% of the constituents, it is still better for MCA to contest there as racial politics is still dominant in the country.”
DAP’s Charles Santiago first contested in Klang in the 2008 election and soundly beat MCA’s Ch’ng Toh Eng, winning more than 65% of the votes.
In the 13th general election, he fought MCA’s Teh Kim Poo and again dealt his rival a heavy blow, albeit with a slightly smaller margin.
Awang Azman said he would not see anything wrong with Umno replacing other BN parties in Malay-majority areas.
“For example,” he said, “MCA should give way to Umno in Bandar Tun Razak, where Malays make up 53% of voters.”
In an interview last October, he suggested that Umno replace MIC in Cameron Highlands, citing MIC’s poor performance in 2013.
In GE13, former MIC president G Palanivel won the seat with 10,506 votes. His rival, DAP’s Manogaran Marimuthu, obtained 10,044 votes.
Awang Azman said Cameron Highlands’ demographics was not of much help to MIC. Of the voters there, only 12% are Indians. Malays make up 34%, Chinese 33% and Orang Asli 20%.
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