Tireless Khir may have saved the day

Dharmender Singh / The Star Newspaper / 8 March 2008
 

KLANG: The concerted effort by the Opposition in Selangor looks likely to have been thwarted, thanks largely to the endeavours of state Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo.

Dr Khir spent less than three days campaigning in his own Sungai Panjang seat since the state assembly was dissolved on Feb13. Instead, he has travelled the length and breadth of the state to either rally forces or put out the fires caused by the change of candidates.

It was the healing of rifts within component parties following the change of candidates that gave Dr Khir the most headaches.

He took a few hours yesterday to step back and observe the situation.

"The black areas have turned grey and the grey areas are turning white. These changes have come day by day.

"But I am confident that we will not only keep the two-thirds majority in the state but also retain the seats we won in the last general election," he declared.

In 2004, Barisan lost only two of its 56 seats and swept all 24 parliamentary constituencies.

The only two that fell were to the DAP — Ng Suee Lim in Sekinchan and Teng Chang Khim in Sungai Pinang.

Dr Khir is confident of recapturing Ng's seat after sorting out the rift among Barisan supporters there, what more, his own seat is just next door.

For Dr Khir, capturing Teng's Sungai Pinang seat would be a great pleasure because the state opposition leader has been quite a thorn inside and outside the state assembly.

However, opposition parties, led by the DAP here, do not agree. In fact, with the so-called national winds of change billowing, they have set themselves a target of beating their 1999 success of six state representatives.

Observers feel that Selangor, as the most urban and developed state in the country, will be the most affected by national issues like Hindraf and disillusionment with the ruling coalition.

Teng said Dr Khir should not be too confident because the disillusionment "is very real".

He was confident the DAP would retain two and capture two more.

The Opposition has also thrown in a lot of effort to win the Klang parliamentary seat, with heavyweights like Lim Kit Siang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng making several visits last week.

Klang has become one of the Opposition's targets because Selangor MCA chairman Datuk Ch'ng Toh Eng is contesting for the parliamentary seat for the first time.

However, Ch'ng, while trying not to underestimate the Opposition, sees little trouble winning the seat and has also expressed confidence that MCA candidates would also be able to retain their seats.

However, Barisan supporters said they were worried about seats like Batu Caves and Bangi which are facing resistance from both the Indian and Malay electorate.

Other areas likely to see a tough fight are the Puchong, Serdang, Kota Raja and Kapar parliamentary seats and the Kinrara, Kota Alam Shah, Port Klang and Ijok state seats.