February 23, 2013
The state is a favourite destination
for both Najib and Muhyiddin.
SEREMBAN: What is it about Negeri
Sembilan that makes it such a frequent destination for official
visits by both the prime minister and his deputy?
This is the question political
observers are asking as the state prepares for yet another working
visit by Najib Tun Razak tomorrow (Sunday). It will be his fourth in
a year.
If one were to take into account
Muhyiddin Yassin’s five visits within the same period, then Negeri
Sembilan can boast that it has, on average, hosted one official visit
by either the PM or his deputy every one and a half months in the
past year.
Another interesting fact about the
visits is that most of the official programmes have been held in
opposition-held constituencies.
During his February 2012 visit, Najib
attended functions in the parliamentary constituency of Seremban and
the state constituencies of Rahang and Sikamat. Seremban and Rahang
are DAP seats and Sikamat belongs to PKR.
His next visit was in March. This time
he went to the PKR strongholds of Teluk Kemang, a parliamentary
constituency, and Port Dickson and Chuah, both state seats. He also
visited Lukut, a DAP state seat.
Last September, Najib had a breakfast
meeting in Ampangan, another PKR state seat, and attended a Janji
Ditepati programme in Paroi, which is a PAS state seat.
Tomorrow, he will launch the Seremban
Railway Station re-development project and a PR1MA housing project in
the state capital. Then he will launch another PR1MA project in
Temiang, a state seat that is also occupied by DAP.
Education scheme
After lunch in Klana Resort, Najib will
attend a closed-door briefing by Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan. Mohamad
will update him on Negeri Sembilan BN’s final preparations for the
13th general election.
At 2.30pm at the Port Dickson
Polytechnic, Najib will announce the Jejak Anak India Malaysia
education scheme, which is aimed at helping Indian students with
average SPM results to continue their education in the country’s
polytechnic institutions.
March 2012 also saw Muhyiddin visiting
Negeri Sembilan. He attended events in Sikamat and Ampangan, both
PKR-held state seats, although he also went to the BN-held Johol, a
state constituency. He had a closed-door meeting with state BN
chiefs.
Last July, Muhyiddin attended several
official functions in Repah, a DAP state seat. In November, he was in
Seremban to launch an education conference attended by school
teachers. In December, he attended another official programme in Port
Dickson.
Last month, Muhyiddin was in the state
again to launch a Gelombang Biru programme in Paroi. He also visited
Senawang, a DAP state seat.
Why are the top two guns in BN spending
so much time and energy in Negeri Sembilan? Do they believe that the
state is likely to fall into Pakatan Rakyat hands unless they give
extraordinary attention to it?
Many observers think so, and they
include pundits from among Pakatan supporters, fence sitters and even
those who are moderately supportive of BN.
Panic button
Sikamat state assemblyman Aminuddin
Harun interprets these visits as a sign that the Menteri Besar has
been pressing the panic button.
“I believe Najib and Muhyiddin have
been coming to the state on the request of Mohamad,” he told FMT.
“He probably needs their presence to boost the confidence of BN
supporters.
“This gives the lie to his public
statements that he is confident BN will get back its two-thirds
majority.
“If Najib says that his frequent
visits here are just part of his normal work as BN chief, then why
hasn’t he gone to the constituencies that are still under BN?
“To me, it’s quite clear that BN is
not confident of retaining the state. Of course, to us Pakatan
supporters, this is a sort of morale booster.”
Aminuddin noted an irony in the
disproportionate attention given to Pakatan-held seats: the people of
Sikamat, Ampangan, Paroi, Senawang and Port Dickson are blessed with
economic projects because they voted against BN in 2008.
“This is what you get when vote for
Pakatan,” he said. “BN gets worried and tries to win back voter
support with its goodies.
“I have heard a lot of people in
BN-held constituencies complain that their areas are being ignored.”
PAS Negeri Sembilan’s secretary, Mohd
Hassan Tamby, expressed similar views.
He told FMT: “You can go to places
like Juasseh, Sungai Lui, Palong, Simpang Pertang or Serting and
gauge for yourself the level of frustration among the residents
there. You will hear many of them complaining that Najib and
Muhyiddin do not care for them as much as they care for opposition
supporters.
“Some have told me they feel that BN
leaders have abandoned them. Obviously, they resent being taken for
granted as BN supporters.”
