Double header for top opposition leaders

The nation is facing the 12^th general election on March 8, but key opposition leaders are already laying the groundwork for the election after that.

They are expected to contest both parliamentary and state seats in the upcoming general election in a bid to optimise on ‘favourable’ sentiments on the ground.

The heads of all three major opposition parties - PAS, DAP and PKR - are speculated to run for seats in Terengganu and Penang.

They have to take on an additional battle each in an election that will provide them with a strong opportunity to make inroads before the next re-delineation exercise comes round, possibly in 2011. Already looking far ahead, they expect the going to be harder in the 13^th general election.

The Election Commission is allowed to re-draw boundaries every eight years, and the last exercise was completed in 2003. However, such efforts are often described as benefitting Barisan Nasional, based on claims that opposition supporters are often moved out strongholds.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang is expected to contest the Marang parliamentary seat which he lost in the 2004 election, and to defend the Rhu Rendang state seat, both in Terengganu. Rhu Rendang is one of the four state seats under Marang.

His candidacy has said to have been endorsed by the party’s central working committee which met last Friday to finalise the list of candidates.

Abdul Hadi, the former Terengganu menteri besar, lost Marang to BN’s Abdul Rahman Bakar by a wafer-thin margin of163 votes. Abdul Rahman was later appointed the deputy human resources minister. The duo are expected to face off again in this election.

The PAS leader retained his Rhu Rendang seat with a majority of 1,435 votes, fending off BN"s Tengku Zainuddin Tengku Zahid in 2004.

PAS’ poor showing in that election also resulted in the loss of the state to BN. Hopes of recapturing Terengganu appear to be dim as most of Abdul Hadi’s ‘lieutenants’ and party heavyweights will be fielded in Kelantan - a strategy to ensure that the party at least retains control of its traditional stronghold.

PAS has held Kelantan since 1990, although it currently has only a one-seat majority in the state legislature. This will be one of the most watched states in the next general election, as BN is beginning to sense a famous victory.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is tipped to contest in the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat and Seri Delima state seat in Penang. Seri Delima is one of three state seats under Bukit Gelugor.

Lim is attempting to make a comeback in Parliament after a hiatus of two terms, after being barred from active politics following a 18-month jail term for breach of the Sedition Act.

Observers see Lim’s strategy in running for both seats as offering Penangites an assurance of sorts that he will not abandon the state, in the event that he is elected to Parliament.

It would offer voters a potential candidate as the ‘incoming chief minister’ should DAP come into power, although political pundits expect the BN-Gerakan government to retain the state, albeit with a reduced majority.

In the last election, DAP chairperson Karpal Singh won Bukit Gelugor with a 1,261-vote majority, defeating BN-MCA’s Lim Boo Chang. The current talk is that Karpal will move to the Bagan parliamentary seat.

In Seri Delima, BN-MCA’s senior leader Koay Kar Huah defeated DAP’s Tan Hun Woi by 4,920 votes. Koay recently announced his retirement from politics.

On the PKR front, president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will defend the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in Penang, She has not ruled out the possibility of contesting in one of the three state seats under Permatang Pauh.

"There have been some calls (for me to contest a state seat as well), but I leave it to the (party’s election) committee to decide," she said when contacted today.

The state seats under Permatang Pauh are Penanti, Seberang Jaya and Permatang Pasir.

If she takes on a state seat too, the options will be either Penanti or Seberang Jaya as Permatang Pasir is currently held by Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman of opposition ally PAS.

In 2004, PKR’s Anuar Shaari contested in Penanti, but lost to BN-Umno’s Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid by 667 votes. Anuar left the PKR last April, citing differences with the party.

In Seberang Jaya, PKR’s Dr Mansor Othman - also the party’s election bureau deputy chief - lost to BN-Umno’s Arif Shah Omar Shah by 4,464 votes.

Wan Azizah, who entered politics after her husband Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998, retained the Permatang Pauh seat with 590 votes, defeating former national iman Pirdaus Ismail.

The significant drop in the majority will be a challenge to PKR, because Permatang Pauh was Anwar’s political base throughout the years he was in politics.

Pirdaus, a member of the Umno Youth exco now, is expected to take on Wan Azizah for the second time.