BN’s Sungai Limau candidate Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim admits that government machinery had been used during his campaigning in the lead up to the Sungai Limau by-election.

NONEHowever, he claimed PAS had done the same when it was in government.

He also stated that the goodies given do not guarantee support but may well backfire.

“For example, I saw one area where Federal Agricultural and Marketing Authority (Fama) went in to distribute fruits and chicks.

“Truckloads of chicks were given away, but if you count the people who came for the chickens and the votes we got, I’m sure the numbers are different,” he said.

NONEAhmad Sohaimi (right) said the time is not yet right for democracy in Malaysia because voter expect goodies in return for their support, making it difficult to campaign on ideals alone.

“We are still conventional and traditional in our ways.”

He described how as he and his team went about campaigning, voters were asking for goodies in return for their support.

One even asked for a streetlight to be erected in front of his house within three days for his support, he claimed.

“There are pros and cons to (giving goodies) because, perhaps for the younger generation, we’d have to read on (former Umno Supreme Council member and progressive) Saifuddin Abdullah’s new politics.

Umno's dilemma

“Umno’s dilemma is that not all its supporters are youths. We have old folks too, whose thinking is still traditional in mentality,” he said.

Ahmad Sohaimi was speaking today at a seminar organised by the University of Malaya Centre of Democracy and Election (Umcedel) on the Nov 4 by-election for the Sungai Limau state assembly seat.

He had lost to PAS’ Mohd Azam Samat by 1,084 votes.

Ahmad Sohaimi said he had lost because of “tactical reasons” presented by the Sungai Limau polling district of Bukit Besar.

He said he estimates that no more than 500 people living in the district, but PAS had won the district with 1,556 votes.

Most of the discrepancy came from nearby constituencies such as Gurun, but are registered to vote in Bukit Besar.

He said these voters are PAS’ ‘fixed deposits’ and Umno can never win Sungai Limau without winning these voters over.

Meanwhile, Umcedel deputy director Amer Saifude Ghazali said the shifts in Chinese voters in the constituency are insignificant, due to its small size in a small constituency.

NONEOnly seven percent of Sungai Limau’s 27,222 voters are of Chinese descent, of whom Gerakan claims have increased their support to BN by about 70 percent.

He also said that based on polling trends of past elections, Chinese voters are found to be ‘tactical voters’ who behave differently in general elections compared to by-elections.

Thus, he said shifts in voting preferences do not necessarily mean that they have shifted support from one party to another.

“They feel that a by-election would not have any impact (compared to a general election), but what can they get out of it?

“In Sungai Limau, all sorts of allocations were offered to them. They feel that since the by-election would not have an impact, they do not get anything if they vote for the opposition.

“If they vote for BN, nothing happens, but by being seen as supporting BN, they get what they want. That is what we need to understand,” he said.