Umno fearful of losing its ‘safe’ Melaka seats?

Bukit Katil MP claims the ruling party is trying hard to beat Pakatan on the campaign trail.

PETALING JAYA: Bukit Katil MP Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin has alleged that Umno is scrambling to make changes to its pre-election programmes in Melaka to keep up with Pakatan Harapan parties.

Speaking to FMT, he said there were clear signs that the ruling party was in fear of losing seats in the state that it previously thought were in its grip.

He said his party, PKR, had been watching developments in Umno and had found that its election machinery was trying hard to match the opposition in campaign activities.

“They are meeting with the people more frequently than they used to,” he said. “In my constituency, they’ve even brought the governor (of Melaka) to meet the people.

“They’ve probably found out that on-the-ground sentiment isn’t entirely on their side like before. And the presence of PPBM on our side is making them even more worried.”

Shamsul, who a vice-president of PKR, said Pakatan parties were continuing with activities that they started last year, “but we have to be very precise in our campaigning as we do not have the same resources BN has.”

He also alleged that BN was trying to shore up weakening support by using its influence with the Election Commission to ensure that electoral boundaries would be redrawn to its advantage.

He said Melaka was one of the states severely affected by the redelineation exercise, with major changes for both parliamentary and state seats.

“Right now, things don’t look too good on our side, but we will put up a fight as long as there is still room for protest,” he added.

If the redelineation is approved, there won’t be any more Bukit Katil parliamentary seat, but there will be a state seat carrying that name. The parliamentary seat that will replace Bukit Katil will be named Hang Tuah Jaya.

Shamsul said this would change the racial composition of the constituency. Whereas Malays made up 55% of Bukit Katil’s voters, they will account for 62% of voters in Hang Tuah Jaya.

He added, however, that BN could be making a mistake in assuming that Malays would vote for it. He recalled that there was a significant Malay swing away from BN in the 1999 general election. “It can happen again,” he said.

Bukit Katil is viewed by both the opposition and BN as a major battlefield in Melaka. Shamsul won it in 2013 by beating former chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam with a majority of 5,447 votes.

Ali has since urged BN to work hard to regain the seat, saying it should not allow “lightning to strike twice”. -FMT