GEORGE TOWN: Pakatan Harapan (PH) will focus its campaign for the Rantau by-election on local issues affecting the constituency.
“These are the more important issues. This has become more pertinent now that PH is also the federal government,” said PKR vice-president Tian Chua.
“We will stay away from the Najib trial,” he added, referring to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who faces a total of 42 charges in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
The trial begins tomorrow.
Chua said he does not see the need to politicise Najib’s court cases. “There already is evidence to indicate that corruption has happened. It is criminal more than anything else,” he added.
At the outset, Najib will be tried on the first four of these charges, all of which are related to SRC International Sdn Bhd, once a subsidiary of 1MDB.
He has claimed trial to a charge of using his position as the prime minister and finance minister to receive a RM42 million gratification when he presided over the government’s decision to provide a guarantee for a RM4 billion loan from the Retirement Fund Inc to SRC International.
The Pekan MP also faces three additional charges of criminal breach of trust under Section 409 of the Penal Code. If convicted, the penalties is a jail term of two to 20 years, whipping and a fine.
It may be tough for Najib to lend his support to the Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign given the time he has to spend in court.
Apart from Chua, political observers and other politicians also believe that the campaigning would begin in earnest because there are many issues at stake in Rantau.
Former Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi said candidates in by-elections usually had very localised issues to handle, rather than the “big, national” ones.
“Some people may ponder on the Najib trial, but it should not be big enough a distraction for either PH or BN,” he added.
According to Ooi, incumbent Datuk Seri Mohamed Hasan, who has served three terms as Rantau assemblyman, has started out as the favourite.
“He has also portrayed himself as a local village lad,” he said. “On the other hand, his main challenger Dr S. Streram comes across as a candidate who has been parachuted into the battle, so that makes it complicated for PH.”
Mohamed is the BN candidate while Streram represents PH. Apart from them, two more candidates — R. Malarvizhi and Mohd Nor Yassin — are vying for the seat as independents.
But Ooi also pointed out that the political terrain is different for every by-election. “If Streram works harder than ever and he gets the PH machinery well-oiled, he may cause an upset,” he added.
Political scientist Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said many voters have already made up their mind so the Najib trial will not be a significant factor.
“In each by-election, there is a unique signature — in Rantau it is about a hometown boy versus an upstart national coalition,” the Universiti Sains Malaysia academic added.
