All set and ready to go: Kluang Municipal Council personnel making final preparations ahead of the Mahkota by-election nomination day at Dewan Tunku Ibrahim Ismail. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
KLUANG: After the nomination process today, Mahkota will be abuzz with ceramah and countless politicians traversing the semi-urban seat, which is likely to see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional and opposition Perikatan Nasional in the by-election.
What is certain is that it will be a roaring time for the town’s famous Kluang Rail Coffee located at the old KTM station. It is where people usually queue up to have their fill of nasi lemak or mee siam with that requisite cuppa in the morning.
A major landmark in the area is the huge and modern train station being built as part of the upcoming double-track project between Johor Baru and Gemas.
With fewer than a dozen election papers being sold so far, a straight fight between the two coalitions is anticipated, according to political observers.
While the outcome of the state election is not likely to rock Barisan’s two-thirds grip on the Johor state assembly, both sides will definitely not be letting their guard down during the two-week campaign period.
Barisan holds 40 seats comprising 33 from Umno, MCA (four) and MIC (three), while its Pakatan Harapan partners DAP has 10 and PKR and Amanah hold one seat each.
Perikatan has three seats – two from Bersatu and one from PAS. Muda has one seat.
There are 66,318 voters in Mahkota, with 56% being Malays, 34% Chinese, 8% Indians and other races (2%).
Together with Mengkibol, it makes up the Kluang parliamentary constituency. DAP holds both the Kluang and Mengkibol seats.
The Mahkota seat fell vacant following the death of Umno’s Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain on Aug 2.
Both coalitions have since announced locals as their candidates, with Barisan’s Umno having named businessman and councillor Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Perikatan naming Mohamad Haizan Jaafar of Bersatu, a former state footballer and ex-councillor.
A local leader has dubbed the contest “young vs old” in reference to their ages – Syed Hussien is 40 and Mohamad Haizan is 61.
This will be the state’s third by-election since the 15th General Election (GE15) in 2022, after the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state seats in September last year.
A local leader said at least 40% of the voters in Mahkota are working outside the area such as in Johor Baru, Kluang, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.
“The important thing is to convince them to come back to vote.
“It’s also worth noting that there is a huge number of new voters in the constituency, comprising at least 57%,” a local community leader pointed out, adding that in the past, turnouts were usually low for a by-election.
In Pulai and Simpang Jeram, the turnout was 47.3% and 60.85%, respectively.
A local Perikatan leader said it is important to use the right strategy to win votes.
“The Barisan state government’s recent decision to give out 15,000 food baskets to only Mahkota residents has not gone down well with the people.
“What about those outside Mahkota? I am sure these baskets were distributed by political parties. Why not give (them to) the whole of Kluang parliamentary to be fair?” he said.
Bread-and-butter issues are certain to dominate campaigning.
“Prices have all gone up. A plate of noodles can cost up to RM8 in certain places, from RM6 previously,” lamented a housewife who wanted to be known only as Chan, who hopes for more cash aid from the government.
Another hot-button issue will be the hefty increase in assessment rates in Kluang, which has spiked by more than 100% since last year.
Barisan, and especially its election director, Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, has been busy organising events in the constituency in a bid to maintain or increase the 5,000-plus majority votes from the last state polls.
A local Barisan leader said Onn Hafiz is well aware that he could come under fire if he fails to bring in the votes.
Unlike other states where DAP, PKR and Amanah are part of their unity government, the Johor state government leaders and officials at the councillor or village levels are all from Barisan.
“I am sure there will be some disgruntlement among Pakatan supporters. Similarly, for the hardcore Malays who are against the Umno-DAP cooperation dubbed UmDAP,” the leader said, adding that it is important for DAP leaders to double their efforts to convince their supporters to back the Umno candidate.
Asked if Umno was confident of retaining the seat following its recent win in Nenggiri, Kelantan, the leader said the party cannot be complacent because the demographics between the two seats were vastly different.
Nenggiri is a 95% Malay-majority seat while Mahkota is a mixed constituency.
“This will be a good test for us to see how the Malays and non-Malays view Umno now. This can be a prelude to the state polls in the next two years,” the leader said.
He added that even local Umno leaders like Johor Umno information chief Datuk Md Jais Sarday, who is formerly a two-term Mahkota assemblyman, has been moving on the ground to meet with people for weeks now.
The next two weeks of campaigning is expected to be a gruelling affair. Although Barisan is favoured to retain the seat, it will be no walk in the park as its leaders and partners from Pakatan will need to address issues raised during the campaign trail.
