Barisan Nasional (BN) battle to get back Selangor is an uphill task even with the protests and suits the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government is facing for not fulfilling its 2008 election manifesto or pledges.
The latest estimates by campaigners are that BN can win the most 34 of the total 56 state seats – even then, eight of the 34 seats are considered as ‘grey-white’ which means still not ‘in the hands’.
The remaining 22 seats, all Chinese majority seats are considered as ‘black’ or ‘lost’.
As for the 22 parliamentary seats, BN is confident of winning eight seats while four more are marked as ‘grey-white’ and the remaining 10 as ‘black’.
In short, Selangor BN leaders and campaigners have still a long way to go in the attempt to win the state – despite it being the ‘pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.’
The going for BN is not smooth and it is getting tougher by the day as oppositions are also stepping up their campaigns day and night.
It is not so much about how BN can make the life of Selangorians better and comfortable as they know what was it before the 2008 and how is life now, but it is about being comfortable with ‘sufferings’ or ‘used to being abused.’
Rightly or wrongly, Selangorians who voted for PR in 2008 are not easy to change their minds to vote for BN again despite the being ‘short changed’ and are now ‘suffering’ from water shortages for high rise dwellers, increase in rents for small time businesses, allowances for students, single mothers and ‘warga emas’ not given as promised and many more.
In short, BN needs to work harder to get back the state and presently their hopes lie on the young voters and first time voters.
Selangor BN and Umno chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak has treated Selangor like a ‘golden child’ where the coalition must get back given the investments they put in have been very heavy since before 2008 general election.
Considered the richest state in Peninsular, Selangor is an industrial state where majority of the country’s manufacturing plants are located, not to mention the port that see no rest and the location of the country’s international airport, although it is named Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
MCA and Gerakan are trying hard to re-penetrate the seats they lost but until at present, response to the two parties by the Chinese community is considered as ‘lukewarm’ and not encouraging.
If the response is encouraging, BN has obviously marked several of the 22 Chinese seats as ‘grey’ not ‘grey-white’ as yet.
BN campaigners are actually are a lost on how else to convince the voters although they have not given up even a breath on efforts to win the minds and hearts of the voters.
The real issue, if seen from the top – aerial view – still goes down to race and religion where DAP and the Chinese candidates in PKR have managed to pump into the hearts and minds of voters.
BN is banking on MCA and Gerakan to rasionalise the issue and tilt the ‘balance’ but the way things are going, it does not look any good for BN in the 22 Chinese majority seats.
