Three-cornered fight BN's advantage to recapture Parit Buntar
By Muhammad Ammar Shafiq Hamzah
PARIT BUNTAR, May 4 (Bernama) -- The Parit Buntar parliamentary constituency, located in the northern Perak has been the opposition stronghold since the 12th General Election in 2008.
In fact, the Titi Serong and Kuala Kurau state seats under the parliamentary constituency are also among the constituencies deemed difficult for the Barisan Nasional (BN) to recapture from the opposition.
However, for the 14th General Election (GE14), the split in the opposition, coupled with the nomination of former Perak state secretary Datuk Seri Abdul Puhat Mat Nayan as the BN candidate for the Parit Buntar seat may perhaps, put an end to the opposition's dominance in the constituency.
In reality, the three-cornered fight for the seat involving BN, PAS and PKR-Amanah gives BN an advantage to recapture the seat from the opposition.
Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) Political Affairs, Policy and International Studies senior lecturer, Md Shukri Shuib said BN had a bright chance of winning the Parit Buntar seat following the clash between Pakatan Harapan and PAS.
According to him, PAS' absence in the GE14 will definitely be felt by Pakatan Harapan as the Islamic-based party had played a big role and become one of the strongest election machineries which contributed to the success of the opposition in 2008 and 2013.
"The main pulse of Pakatan Harapan is PAS...now, PAS and its party machinery are no longer with Mujahid (Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, the PKR-Amanah candidate for Parit Buntar parliamentary seat), besides, Amanah is still a new party.
"Even if he (Mujahid) is able to garner votes, they must be, courtesy of former PAS members and also Chinese votes in the parliamentary constituency," he said, adding that BN was now in a better position to recapture the Parit Buntar parliamentary seat.
Political analyst Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said being a person of high calibre and armed with vast experience in public administration would be an advantage for the BN candidate to win the seat.
The Universiti Sains Malaysia senior lecturer said Abdul Puhat's vast experience in administering the state could also be used by him to develop Parit Buntar and assist in BN's governance if the coalition was given the opportunity to rule the state.
"He also has a big influence especially among civil servants in the state, and is able to draw support from civil servants," he said.
Abdul Puhat, who served as Perak state secretary from Dec 30, 2011 to April 24 this year, is facing two-term incumbent Mujahid and Ahmad Azhar Sharin from PAS.
In the 13th General Election, Mujahid won the Parit Buntar parliamentary seat with a majority of 8,476 votes, defeating BN's Muammar Gaddafi Jamaluddin.
The Parit Buntar parliamentary constituency has 51,860 registered voters with nearly 70 per cent Malay, Chinese (25 per cent) and Indian (five per cent).
-- BERNAMA
