KLANG: Campaigning in the Selangor election is expected to gain momentum tomorrow and remain at a fast pace until midnight on Aug 11.
With both the dominant coalitions – Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional – believing they are leading, the final week of campaigning would be a do-or-die mission for both.
Former Kapar Umno division chief Datuk Faisal Abdullah said campaigning during the final week would focus on stoking voter turnout on polling day.
“Various activities will be carried out to mobilise voters, such as going house to house, to remind them to come out and vote.
“Those who are working in other states will also be contacted and urged to come home to vote,” he said.
Besides making phone calls, members of the parties’ machinery will send out messages via WhatsApp and SMS to ask voters to turn up in full force.
“I think the turnout this time around will be lower than during the general election as the atmosphere is different,” Faisal said.
Former Batu MP Tian Chua said the final week of campaigning in Selangor would also involve a lot of physical stumping in suburban and rural areas as opposed to highly-urbanised constituencies.
“The urban areas, which are Pakatan strongholds, will be rather quiet as the population there is more geared towards social media campaigning compared with outdoor campaign activities and ceramah,” he said.
“Both sides will also be playing up issues relevant to the area where they are campaigning.
“In urban areas, the campaign material will revolve around economic and administrative matters, while issues played up in rural areas during the last leg of the race will be about emotional and primordial loyalties,” he said.
“There isn’t much that can be nit-picked on the Selangor state government, so Perikatan will probably turn its campaign into a referendum on the unity government and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“Perikatan is also likely to focus aggressively on mobilising voters and reaching out to the masses in Malay-majority constituencies,” said Tian Chua.
“They will be penetrating Pakatan areas with a high population of Malay voters in full force.”
The most watched seat in Selangor is Hulu Kelang as the outcome will indicate if Pakatan’s Juwairiya Zulkifli will be able to snuff out Perikatan Nasional’s Datuk Seri Azmin Ali or end up getting snuffed, probably for good.Eyes will also be on the Batu Tiga constituency where Bersatu’s women chief Datuk Seri Rina Harun, who lost in the general election, has a chance to restart her political career if she wins.
In the Malay-majority northern Selangor constituencies, the focus is on whether former six-term Tanjong Karang MP and political warlord Tan Sri Noh Omar still has the wow factor to convince voters there to shift their support from Pakatan and Umno to Perikatan.
