BN Losing Battles with DAP on Chinese Votes

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Penang Chinese voters have a well-deserved reputation for being hard to predict. Just ask the MCA or Gerakan. Many formerly "safe" seats are now considered "hot", owing to general discontent among voters, in particular those from the middle class. At the moment, MCA's danger areas are the Sungai Puyu, Bagan Jermal, Paya Terubong and Air Puteh state seats and the Bukit Mertajam and Bagan parliamentary seats. Gerakan, meanwhile, is having problems in the Sungai Pinang, Batu Lanchang, Air Itam and Datuk Keramat state seats and the Tanjung and Batu Kawan parliamentary seats. A veteran Gerakan politician, who preferred to remain anonymous, said there was an all-out war for the Chinese votes between MCA and Gerakan, on the BN side, and the DAP-led opposition, who are harping on the state's economic and security-related issues. "It is very clear that whoever, be it MCA or Gerakan, manages to convince the Chinese to vote for it, will gain," he said.Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who is contesting the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat, has admitted that there are pockets of unhappiness in a few areas in the state. He said the loss of these seats might erode non-Malay representation in the state assembly. "We do not want to see a situation where the two seats allocated to MIC are lost to the opposition. This will mean an absence of Indian representation in the state executive council and state assembly," he said. Umno is contesting 15 state seats, Gerakan 13, MCA 10 and MIC 2 in the election. "It is important for us to have balanced representation in government. If voters help us to preserve the balance, we can function very well as all groups will be almost proportionately represented," he said. Three-term Pengkalan Kota state assemblyman Lee Hack Teik knows it is going to be a tough fight in his constituency of 19,679 voters, of which 94.9 per cent are middle-class Chinese. "The Chinese will agree to support a candidate just to give him face. "But when the candidate turns away, they will do the opposite. That's Penang Chinese for you. "I know because I have been given such treatment before," said the traditional Chinese sinseh. Another three-term MCA candidate, Datuk Lim Gim Soon, said the party's success in defending the state seats was due to strong grassroots support. "We are with them all the time and know just what they want. But it is different now. "The opposition has been saying a lot of things to cloud the minds of the Chinese, so much so that they are in two minds about giving their votes to BN. "That is why we are working extra hard to regain the confidence of Chinese voters," said Lim, who will be defending his Komtar state constituency. State MCA secretary Datuk Lye Siew Weng said the party did not believe in sloganeering like the opposition but preferred to be service-oriented. "Our public complaints bureaus are very effective and the voters normally come to us when they need help," he said.

Category: News
Uploaded: March 2nd, 2008 @ 4:10 pm
Author: multidimid

Length: 03:24
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Tags: 200 bn chief dap election gerakan malaysia mca minister penang

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