Slim by-election: What can we expect?

The Slim by-election is in motion with nomination day held on 15 August 2020, early voting on 25 August and polling day on 29 August.

The Slim by-election is being held following the death of the four-term Barisan Nasional (BN) incumbent, Datuk Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib, due to a heart attack on July 15.

There have been six by-elections throughout the 14th parliamentary session (Port Dickson, Cameron Highlands, Sandakan, Tanjung Piai, Kimanis and Chini).

The by-election in Slim River will be the second during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period after Chini.

What can we expect this time?

1. Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

Similar to Chini, the Slim by-election will be conducted under strict SOPs imposed by the Election Commission (EC).

SOPs include the wearing of face masks, using hand sanitizers, temperature checks and the practice of physical distancing.

Campaign and ‘ceramah’ activities are also only allowed in closed or gated areas and limited to only 250 individuals at one time.

Party operations centres will be allowed to open throughout the election period, including on voting day but they must be pre-registered with the EC for monitoring purposes.

Voters are also urged to follow the suggested voting time printed on their voter’s card to avoid congestion. The Slim state constituency has 23,094 registered voters.

The imposed SOPs seemed to not have affected voter turnout as the Election Commission (EC) reported a total of 96.25 per cent of the 267 early voters comprising of police personnel.

It is targeting 85 per cent of the 22,749 ordinary voters to exercise their rights tomorrow

2. Parties and candidates

The Slim state by-election will see a three-cornered contest between BN’s Mohd Zaidi Aziz, 43, and two Independent candidates, S. Santhasekaran, 44, and Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi, 38.

Amir Khusyairi is representing former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s new party, Pejuang, but is running as an independent as the party has yet to be registered.

According to Prof. Dr. Jayum Anak Jawan, a political scientist from University Putra Malaysia, the Slim by-elections will be a fight between the two Malay parties, namely UMNO and Pejuang and that candidate from both parties serve as proxies for the two main Malay personalities, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Dr Mahathir.

While Slim has been a BN stronghold with Mohd Khusairi having defended the Slim state seat for the fourth term in the last 14th General Election, the upcoming by-election would be a litmus test on whether Dr Mahathir will continue to enjoy strong support among the Malay voters.

“It would be a sort of “baptism of fire” for his yet-to-be registered Pejuang. If his proxy failed to win, then Pejuang is as good as buried before it can be born.

“Losing by a small margin to UMNO would still be sufficient for supporters of Pejuang to claim victory and support for their struggle in the formation of the new party.”

That said, Prof Dr Jayum believed that the Slim by-election would not affect Perak’s overall political scene as it is only one contested seat.

“The talk that if Pejuang wins, that may lead to some possibility that some state assembly members may jump ship to Pejuang is rather stretching the analysis. Pejuang needs to show that it has the pull to the voters instead of possible froggers.”

3. Campaigning in the new norm

The Election Commission (EC) requires candidates to comply with the prescribed SOP while campaigning and it seems that all three candidates had no qualms in doing so during the 14-day campaign period.

All three candidates preferred holding small-scale ‘ceramah’ (political talk) and going on the ground to visit constituents. They also make use of social media such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to campaign.

BN candidate Mohd Zaidi Aziz reportedly preferred meeting his supporters face-to-face as it not only allows him to get know his voters better but to also avoid his constituents from being infected by COVID-19 due to large gatherings.

Independent candidate, Amir Khusyairi, also did not find regulations enforced a hindrance to his campaign activities and were spotted in walkabouts around the area.

Santharasekaran has also said that his focus is more on digital campaigning and wanted to avoid wastage.

Unlike the previous by-election, there are also no poster wars in Slim area as most campaign materials are being put up online.