KUDAT: The imminent state elections for the six states in Peninsula Malaysia will be a major test for the unity government and potentially have a great impact on political landscape of the country, Peninsula Malaysia especially, said Tan Sri T.C Goh, President of The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong).
“The outcome of the six state elections will also be considered as the ‘wind vane’ for the coming general elections nationwide, hence it will be closely watched by all quarters,” he added.
He also urged all registered voters in the six states, the Chinese voters especially, to actively come out to cast their votes to elect the best candidates to form the new state governments to govern their states.
Goh who is also President of The Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) urged this while officiating at the torch run for the 38th National Chinese Cultural Festival (NCCF), at Pei Tsin High School, in Kudat, today. Also present at the occasion were Goh’s spouse, Puan Sri Joanne Ho, Datuk Verdon Bahanda, Member of Parliament for P167 Kudat, Ben Chong, ADUN Tg Kapor, Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen, Main Organising Chairman of 38th NCCF cum FCAS Deputy President, her deputy cum Vice President of FCAS, Kapitan Fung Chun Fatt, FCAS Vice President Ng Young Wah, Organising Chairman of Kudat torch run cum Chairman of Pei Tsin School Board, *Soon Kah Khian* and its Principal, *Kong Kui Kiong,* among others.
Goh was commenting on the nomination day for the six state elections in Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, today, which saw an intense contest between political parties from both sides of the divide, with a total of 572 candidates vying for the 245 state seats.
He pointed out that out of the 245 seats, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu have a total of 113 seats which are predominantly occupied by Malay voters; they are also the most intensely-contested seats for the Malay-based political parties, following the last general elections which were held in last November.
He went on to note that the other three states namely Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan have a total of 132 state seats, with more than 50 per cent of the voters in Penang and Selangor being Chinese voters, while Negeri Sembilan has almost equal numbers of Chinese and Malay voters. This thus means these three states would cater a number of mixed constituencies that would be intensely contested by political parties from both sides of the divide.
Goh continued that, on the surface, it may seem that the imminent state elections would not concern east Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. He nonetheless opined that the eventual outcomes of the six state elections may ultimately have a ‘subtle’ impact on Sabah and Sarawak.
“The ‘impact’ here doesn’t mean that it would affect the current political situation in Sabah. But, the outcome of the six state elections would become the ‘wind vane’ which would inevitably influent the ‘political direction’ in Sabah, and this is something that is worth paying attention to,” he explained.
He however reserved his views on the magnitude of such impact, except for saying that it would all depend on the impact at the federal level, which is currently too premature for him to comment.
He then noted that according to the Sabah Constitution, Sabah which had its state election in 2020 has another two years to go before the present state government is dissolved to pave the way for the next state election in 2025. This was coupled with the fact that the state’s anti party-hopping law which was passed in the State Legislative Assembly in May this year, recently came into force.
He thus opined Sabah will continue to enjoy a stable political situation.-pr/BNN
