Analysts: Sultan's death will not affect voter sentiments in Teluk Intan

While there was one observer who felt that votes would swing in favour of Barisan Nasional (BN), rather than Pakatan Rakyat, due to sympathy votes, most experts Astro AWANI spoke to said that the incident would not effect the voters.

They noted that this was mainly because the state ruler has always been seen as a politically neutral figure and one who seldom meddled in political affairs.

“There wouldn’t be any effect. The Sultan had no part in the factors during the campaign. So I don’t see how his demise is able to create sympathy votes for BN,” said one of the analysts, Khoo Kay Peng.

Khoo said that Sultan Azlan Shah had kept himself apart from politics, and has been quiet in the public sphere for a long time.

“Apart from the Perak crisis in 2009, I don’t think the Sultan has been involved in any part at all in politics. He was just one of those who doesn’t intervene if we compared other rulers like in Johor and Terengganu,” he said.

JASA (Department of Special Affairs) director-general Datuk Fuad Hassan also concurred that voters would not be influenced by the demise of Sultan Azlan Shah.

“He has always been seen as neutral and fair to both Barisan Nasional and to Pakatan Rakyat, “ said Fuad, a former two-term UMNO state assemblyman.

Sultan Azlan Shah passed away at 1.30pm on Wednesday at the age of 86.

The Teluk Intan by election campaign, which was halted by both B&N and Pakatan following the announcement of the ruler's death on Wednesday, is expected to pick up speed again later on Thursday.

BN’s older and more experienced candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong is going head to head against DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, a political novice.

Mah, who is Gerakan president and a local, is a former deputy minister and was Teluk Intan MP for two terms as well as former assemblyman for Pasir Bedemar.

Dyana, meanwhile, is a lawyer and former political secretary of DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang.

The seat fell vacant following the death of former MP from DAP, Seah Leong Peng due to cancer on May 1.

In 2013, during the 13th General Election, Seah defeated Mah and independent K. Moralingam with a majority of 7,313 votes.

The Chinese comprise the largest group of voters in at 42% (25,310), followed by the Malays (23,301) at 38% cent, and the Indians at 19% (11,648), totalling over 60,000 voters.