GE15: BN, PN candidates have their own edge

KUALA LUMPUR: All Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates contesting in the 15th General Election (GE15) have their own edge to win the support of their electorates.

A political analyst from Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research (NASR) Dr Azmi Hassan said the line-up of candidates announced by the two coalitions last Nov 1 was a smart strategy to win the people's mandate.

He said the strength in the line-up of BN candidates is that they comprise 'original' members of component parties in the coalition.

"However, for PN, there are candidates (who are originally) from PKR or UMNO who are not seen as original party members. So, the stake here is whether voters can accept such candidates," he told Bernama.

BN, he said, also has its own strength, which is support among the Malays and the grassroots, compared to PN.

"However, PN can also get the support of the Malays because based on statistics gathered during the state elections in Melaka and Johor, it was able to attract some of the Malay voters, though not enough for it to secure a win (at that time).

"While BN is able to maintain the support of the Malay voters, PN is only able to get the votes of the Malays from the opposition parties such as PKR, Amanah or Warisan," he said.

Last Nov 5, which was nomination day for GE15, the Election Commission (EC) announced that it received 1,386 nomination papers.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said out of that number, 945 nomination papers were for parliamentary seats, 434 for state seats in Perak, Pahang and Perlis and seven for Bugaya in Sabah where a by-election is held at the same time as GE15.

Among the big names contesting as BN candidates in GE15 are UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who will be defending their Bagan Datuk and Bera seat, respectively.

The PN candidates include its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is Bersatu president, and Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Muhyiddin is defending the Pagoh parliamentary seat, while Ahmad Faizal Azumu contesting the Tambun parliamentary seat.

Meanwhile, political analyst Prof Dr P. Sivamurugan said the PN's strength is having professionals as its candidates.

He said on the distribution of seats, PN fielded candidates who are able to sway the votes of the opposing team to them.

"Whether PN is able to capture the hearts of voters, it depends on how effectively can the Bersatu candidates sway the votes of BN and Pakatan Harapan (PH) supporters to their side.

"However, for PAS, I think it is able to defend seats won in GE14," said the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) lecturer.

Polling for GE15 is on Nov 19, while early voting is on Nov 15.

-- BERNAMA