Contesting two seats to maintain influence

KUALA LUMPUR: The strategy of fielding a candidate to contest two seats, namely the Parliamentary and State Legislative Assembly seats, is seen as a safety measure to retain influence in the area contested.
Political analysts believe that the candidates selected to contest in both the seats in the 14th General Election (GE14) have more chances of winning, besides being a factor that can further strengthen the party.
A senior lecturer in Political Affairs, Policy and International Studies with Universiti Utara Malaysia, Md Shukri Shuib said this was not a new phenomenon because similar approaches had been adopted by political parties to prevent defeats, especially when new faces were fielded.
"From another angle, they want to show that a party stalwart can assist in securing victory especially when the candidate selected is among the group considered as a community leader or favourite.
"However, it is more appropriate if the candidate for the State Assembly seat is from the same Parliamentary constituency to avoid a gap in delivering aid and services to the constituents," he told Bernama today.
Md Shukri said this gives an advantage for the voices of the people to be better heard especially when the candidates winning the Parliamentary and State seats come from the party that forms the government.
Citing the example of Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Md Shukri said although Kelantan was administered by the opposition, Mustapa was still seen as an outstanding figure in the Air Lanas State constituency as he was previously also an elected representative for the Jeli Parliamentary constituency.
Mustapa, who was also the Minister of International Trade and Industry, is the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Jeli Parliamentary constituency and Air Lanas State constituency in GE14.
Other names contesting two seats are Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (Pasir Gudang Parliamentary and Permas state seats), Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir (Lumut Parliamentary and Pangkor state seats) and Pahang Umno Liaison deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin (Temerloh Parliamentary and Lanchang state seats).
Meanwhile, the opposition pact candidates contesting on the PKR ticket include Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in Pagoh Parliamentary and Gambir state seats, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (Jerlun Parliamentary and Jitra state seats), Lim Guan Eng (Bagan Parliamentary and Air Putih state) and Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali (Gombak parliamentary and Bukit Antarabangsa state). — Bernama