Kit Siang: 5% swing will topple Umno in 2018
By-elections will show if there is a trend that, if maintained, could lead to a loss of 52 seats, says Kit Siang
(FMT) – A five per cent swing against Umno and the Barisan Nasional, if maintained at the 2018 general election, will cause a loss of up to 52 seats and the end of the ruling coalition’s hold on power, says Lim Kit Siang.
The DAP advisor, speaking at an election ceramah in Kuala Kangsar last night, said the parliamentary by-elections in Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar on Saturday would be crucial in deciding Umno’s future.
It would also have a bearing on the future of Najib Razak as Umno president and prime minister, he said. Fear of a loss of federal power in 2018 might cause internal dissension and a party coup against him, Lim claimed.
He said Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar were among the most marginal and unsafe seats won by Umno in 2013 although they had been held by the party since Merdeka.
Lim believed that a swing of 5 per cent against Umno in 2018 could cause the loss of up to 52 seats, potentially causing Barisan Nasional to lose its majority in Parliament and ending its hold on power.
He gave his calculations as an example of why the two by-elections were relevant to Najib’s future, in response to comments by Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein.
Yesterday, Hishammuddin had urged voters to disregard Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s presence in support of the opposition candidates in the two by-elections. He said Dr Mahathir was merely making personal attacks against Najib and had been shown to be inconsistent in the various allegations he had raised, which were not relevant to the voters in Kuala Kangsar.
Hishammuddin said: “Najib did not contest in Sungai Besar. The issues mentioned by Dr Mahathir were personal in nature.”
Dr Mahathir attended an opposition event in Sungai Besar, Selangor, yesterday as part of his year-long campaign to force Najib from office. He is expected in Kuala Kangsar today.
In response to Hishammuddin’s remarks, Lim said in a speech last night: “How can Hishammuddin say that the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections have nothing to do with Najib, when they will be intimately involved to the issue as to whether Najib should resign or to cling on to power in Putrajaya?”
Polling takes place on Saturday in both constituencies to fill vacancies created by the death of the sitting MPs in a helicopter crash last month. The Barisan Nasional is fielding an Umno candidate in each seat and is opposed by PAS and the splinter party Amanah. An independent candidate is also contending in Kuala Kangsar.
At the 2013 general election Umno’s Noriah Kasnon (18,695 votes) won a third term as MP by a majority of 399 votes against Salleh Husin of PAS (18,296 votes).
Kuala Kangsar was held by former trade minister Rafidah Aziz for seven terms. In 2013, Umno’s Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar bin Wan Ahmad (14,218 votes) won by 1,082 votes against Khalil Idham Lim Abdullah of PAS (13,136) and independent candidate Kamilia Ibrahim (447 votes).
