Permatang Pauh: Hilmi vs Wan Azizah?

Plans are afoot in Penang to place former deputy chief minister Dr Hilmi Yahaya to take on PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the Permatang Pauh constituency in the coming general election.

And Hilmi’s ( photo ) present constituency of Balik Pulau would be given to the out-going Finance Minister II Senator Nor Mohamed Yakcob.

The party leadership headed by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi thinks that this arrangement would be suitable in not just winning back the Permatang Pauh seat from PKR but also a good opportunity to bring in Nor Mohamed into Parliament by giving him a safe seat.

However there is a snag with the well-laid plan - all the Balik Pulau BN-party divisions are against the idea of having a ‘parachute’ candidate dropped into the constituency.

"Balik Pulau don't need an outsider to contest. We have a capable leader in Dr Hilmi. He should not be made a sacrificial lamb," a local Umno leader told Malaysiakini .

In the past week, Balik Pulau BN component leaders had held several crisis talks to overcome their dilemma of losing their favourite son and Umno division chief Hilmi to the near-suicidal Permatang Pauh seat.

It is learnt that the component parties are contemplating an idea to submit a protest memorandum against such plan to Abdullah in a couple of days.

And if the BN national leadership insists on the "parachute candidate", it would prove suicidal to ruling coalition in Balik Pulau as many component parties are threatening to sabotage the votes.

Risk of losing both seats

This would put BN on a risk of losing both Balik Pulau and Permatang Pauh federal seats to PKR.

Abdullah is learnt to have informed Hilmi, 58, about the switch, presumably to improve BN's chances of recapturing Permatang Pauh constituency and in the process thrust a dragger into the heart of PKR and its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

In 2004, Wan Azizah retained her seat with a narrow 449-vote majority over Permatang Pauh Umno division deputy chairman and former Imam of Masjid Negara, Pirdaus Ismail.

The narrow margin has induced BN an overwhelming confidence to finally wrest the seat.

According to the 2004 electoral roll, the predominantly Malay constituency has 54,041 registered voters with Malays making up 67.6 percent, followed by Chinese 26.3 percent and Indians 8.5 per cent.

With the Malay voters in Permatang Pauh equally split between Umno and PKR, and Indian votes unprecedently swinging towards PKR, an observer noted that the Chinese votes could prove decisive.

It is also learnt that the local Chinese community leaders have requested Umno not to field Pirdaus again.

Umno and BN top leaderships thought that a business pro-active candidate, notably from the Finance Ministry, could be the trick of the candidature puzzle in Permatang Pauh.

Hilmi emerged as the answer because Abdullah do not want to risk Nor Mohamed, who had completed the limited two-term senatorship and must win a Parliament seat to be back in the cabinet.

"Pak Lah wants him to have an easy passage with a safe seat, so he chose Balik Pulau," said an insider.

Although contesting in Permatang Pauh does not mean a no-win situation to Hilmi, nonetheless Balik Pulau local leaders are questioning the intention behind Abdullah's move.

Pak Lah's ulterior motive

An Umno leader suggested that Nor Mohamed could also be the answer to Umno's dilemma in Permatang Pauh since after all he was the finance minister in the last term.

"Surely Nor Mohamed can convince the Chinese that he could boost business in the constituency and state. Moreover he hails from neighbouring Bagan consituency," he said.

A MCA local leader echoed the sentiments and described Hilmi as a "likeable person and too good to be sacrificed for Pak Lah's ulterior motive."

"Hilmi is revered by all BN coalition partners for being a friendly, mild mannered and accommodative," he said.

In 2004, Hilmi won the Balik Pulau seat with thumping 12,165 vote majority over PKR's Dr Rohana Ariffin.

He was subsequently appointed as the parliamentary secretary to the Finance Ministry.

Prior to that Hilmi was the Teluk Bahang state assemblyman for three terms since 1990.

He served in the state government as an executive councillor between 1990 and 1999, and the deputy chief minister between 1999 and 2004.

Perhaps the incumbent MP's standing among Balik Pulau constituents was best summed up by a local MIC politician.

"Hilmi is among a handful of BN politicians who truly practised BN concept of political unity, power sharing and multi-racial politics.

"He has provided funds for Chinese and Tamil schools and worshipping places in the constituency, hardly lost his cool or shouted against anyone, and always been approachable, accessible and helpful.

"He has always lended a helping hand to all races," the leader told Malaysiakini .