Perak state deserves my special attention simply because of the power grab engineered by Najib soon after assuming control of Umno Perak from Tajol Rosli in 2009. He managed to reverse the original slim majority of 31 to 28 from Pakatan to Barisan, by using a devious plan.
Briefly, with the benefit of hindsight, it was proven beyond doubt that Nasaruddin (ADUN Bota) pretended to join PKR amid much fanfare and rejoice by Pakatan folks. The idea was to bait PKR into the acceptability of a turncoat. Soon after, he jumped out to rejoin BN. Two PKR ADUNs (Behrang and Changkat Jering) who faced criminal charges (many believed they were entrapped earlier), and a DAP ADUN, Hee Yit Foong, were tempted (the former by promised dropping of charges and the latter by a large sum of money) to tip the balance at the State Assembly. It was not smooth sailing and involved long drawn litigation and the infamous locked-in, after dragging out of a sitting Speaker of the state assembly.
The sentiments then was such that had the Sultan of Perak dissolved the state assembly, Pakatan Rakyat would have won easily. Even a retired senior judge, NH Chan came out to voice his legal opinions critising the court decision in favour of BN, something unheard of before. A local tycoon, Koon Yew Yin wrote a cheque to DAP for Rm200,000 to help in funding legal fees and expenses. Later, he even gave Rm100,000 to PAS. In the past, such perceived unfair legal judgments were never openly voiced out by people who have retired, to avoid any problems from the authorities. These two distinguished gentlemen represent the feelings of the majority of the Perakians. Many could not wait for the GE to show their displeasure. Perhaps, this could be one of the reasons why PM Najib delayed his decision to dissolve Parliament until it became almost automatic by reason of its expiry.
Now that GE is fixed for May 5, Perakians await the day when they can prove to the powers that be that they have not forgotten nor forgiven Najib for his heinous act.
The 59 state seats which will be keenly watched by Perakians this coming GE are:
N01 Pengkalan Hulu: Abdullah Masnan (PKR) vs Aznel Ibrahim (BN - UMNO)
N02 Temenggor: Mohd Supian Nordin
(PKR) vs Salbiah Mohamed (BN - UMNO)
N03 Kenering: Mohamad Tarmizi Abdul Hamid
(PKR) vs Mohd Tarmizi Idris (BN - UMNO)
N04 Kota Tampan: Saarani Mohamad (BN - UMNO) vs Zahrul Nizam Abdul Majid (PKR)
N05 Selama: Mohamad Daud Mohd Yusoff (BN - UMNO) vs Mohd Akmal Kamarudin (PAS)
N06 Kubu Gajah: Ahmad Hasbullah Alias (BN - UMNO) vs Mohd Nazri Din (PAS)
N07 Batu Kurau: Mohammad Fadzil Alias (PKR) vs Muhammad Amin Zakaria (BN - UMNO)
N08 Titi Serong: Abu Bakar Haji Hussian
(PAS) vs Abu Bakar Mat Ali (BN - UMNO)
N09 Kuala Kurau: Abdul Yunus Jamahri (PKR)vs Mohd Salleh Mat Disa
(BN - UMNO)
N10 Alor Pongsu: Rosli Ibrahim (PKR) vs Sham Mat Sahat (BN - UMNO) vs Shamsul Amir Ramly (IND)
N11 Gunong Semanggol: Mohd Zawawi Abu Hassan (PAS) vs Zulkarnain Ismail (BN - UMNO)
vs Halidi Wahab (IND)
N12 Selinsing: Husin Din (PAS) vs Sharudin Bin Ahmad
(BN - UMNO)
N13 - Kuala Sepetang : Chua Yee Ling (PKR) vs Loh Swee Eng (BN - GERAKAN) vs Zainal Abidin Abd Rahman (BERJASA)
N 14 Changkat Jering: PAS's Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin vs BN's Rosli Husin vs IND Zulkefli Ibrahim
N 15 Trong: Dr. Zabri Abd. Wahid (BN) vs Norazli Musa (PAS)
N 16 Kamunting: Mohammad Zahir Abdul Khalid (BN) vs Mohd Fakhrudin Abdul Aziz (PAS)
N 17 Pokok Assam: Ho Cheng Wang (BN) vs Teh Kok Lim (DAP) vs Mohd Yusoff Abdul Hamid (Ind)
N 18 Aulong: Leow Thye Yih (DAP) vs Soo Key Ping (BN) vs Yew Tian Hoe (Ind)
N 19 Chenderoh: Zainun Mat Nor (BN) vs Mohamad Azalan Mohamad Radzi (PAS)
N 20 Lubok Merbau: Siti Salmah Mat Jusak (BN) vs Mohd Zainudin Mohd Yusof (PAS)
N 21 Lintang: Mohd Zolkafly Harun (BN) vs Ahmad Mazlan Othman (PAS)
N 22 Jalong: Loh Sze Yee (DAP) vs Liew Yew Aw (BN) vs S. Kalimuthu (Ind)
N 23 Manjoi: Asmuni Awi (PAS) vs Mohamad Ziad Mohd Zainal (BN)
N 24 Hulu Kinta: M.A Tinagaran A/l Arumugam (PKR) vs Aminuddin Hanafiah (BN) vs Sulaiman Zakariya (Ind)
N 25 Canning: DAP's Wong Kah Woh vs BN's Ceylyn Tay Wei Lung
N 26 Tebing Tinggi: DAP's Ong Boon Piow vs BN's Khoo Boon Chuan
N 27 Pasir Pinji: DAP's Lee Chuan How vs BN's Thong Fah Chong
N 28 Bercham: DAP's Cheong Chee Khing vs BN's Lim Huey Shan vs IND Kalimuthu Ranggayah
N 29 Kepayang: DAP's Nga Kor Ming vs BN's Chang Kok Aun
N30 Buntong: S. Sivasubramaniam (DAP) vs C. Sivaraj (BN) vs Iruthiyam Sebastiar Anthonisamy (Ind) vs Mohd Basri Bin Shafie (Ind)
N 31 Jelapang: DAP's Teh Hock Ke vs BN's Mokan a/l Subramaniam vs PSM's Sarasvathy Muthu
N 32 Menglembu: DAP's Lim Pek Har vs BN's Loo Gar Yen
N 33 Tronoh: DAP's Paul Yong Choo Kiong vs BN's Yip Sze Choy
N 34 Bukit Chandan: Maslin Sham Razman (BN) vs Fathmawaty Salim (PKR) vs Jahiddin Isa (Ind)
N 35 Manong: Mohamad Kamil Shafie (BN) vs Jamil Dzulkarnain (PAS)
N 36 Pengkalan Baharu: Khairuddin Abd Malik (PAS) vs Abd Manaf Hashim (BN) vs Ahmad Nizam Ibrahim (Ind)
N 37 Pantai Remis: Wong May Ing (DAP) vs Koh Ser Yun (BN)
N 38 Belanja: Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad (PAS) vs Mohd Nizar Zakaria (BN)
N 39 Bota: BN's Nasharuddin Hashim vs PKR's Zulkifli Ibrahim
N 40 Malim Nawar DAP's Leong Cheok Keng vs BN's Chang Gwo Chyang
N 41 Keranji: Chen Fook Chye (DAP) vs Daniel Wa Wai How (BN)
N 42 Tualang Sekah: Baldip Singh Santokh Singh (PKR) vs Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi (BN) vs Syed Mohamed Syed Ali (Ind)
N 43 Sungai Rapat: BN's Hamidah Osman vs PAS's Radzi Zainon vs IND Mior Azman Aminuddin Mior Aris
N 44 Simpang Pulai: Tan Kar Hing (PKR) vs Datuk Chang Kon You (BN)
N 45 Teja: Chang Lih Kang (PKR) vs Yew Sau Kham (BN)
N 46 Chenderiang: BN's Dr Mah Hang Soon vs PKR's Amani Williams-Hunt Abdullah
N 47 Ayer Kuning: Samsudin Abu Hassan (BN) vs Ahmad Razi Othman (PAS) vs M. Kathiravan (Ind)
N 48 Sungai Manik: Osman Abdul Rahman (PKR) vs Zainol Fadzi Paharudin (BN)
N 49 Kampong Gajah: Dr Ishak Saari (PAS) vs Abdullah Fauzi Ahmad Razali (BN)
N 50 Sitiawan: Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP) vs Ting Tai Fook (BN)
N 51 Pasir Panjang: Rohawati Abidin (PAS) vs Rashidi Ibrahim (BN) vs S. Vijayan (Ind)
N 52 Pangkor: Dr Zambry Abd Kadir (BN) vs Mohd Saifullah Mohd Zulkifli (PKR) vs Benard Parenpa (Ind)
N53 Rungkup: Shahrul Zaman Yahya (BN) vs Mohd Misbahul Munir Masduki (PAS)
N54 Hutan Melintang: R. Supramaniam (BN) vs S. Kesavan (PKR) vs Azahari Abdullah (Berjasa) vs Mat Sidi Hashim (Ind)
N 55 Pasir Bedamar: DAP's Terence Naidu vs BN PPP's M Kayveas
N 56 Changkat Jong: Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin (BN) vs Mohd Anuar Sudin (PAS) vs K. Suppan (Ind)
N 57 Sungkai: A. Sivanesan (DAP) vs Goh Kim Swee (BN)
N 58 Slim: Mohd Khusairy Abdul Talib (BN) vs Aminuddin Zulkipli (PAS) vs R. Mosses (Ind)
N 59 Behrang: BN's Rusnah Kassim vs PKR's Abdul Hadi Abdul Khatab vs IND Kamal Badri Tak M. Zainudin vs IND Ramnaidu Suridemudu.
I have counted seat allocation as: PAS (22), PKR (19) and DAP (18).
Former Pakatan Menteri Besar, Nizar Jamaluddin, is contesting the state seat of Changkat Jering. He has been promised the same position if Pakatan regained Perak.
Dr. Zambry Abd. Kadir, the caretaker BN Menteri Besar is defending his state seat of Pangkor.
All three former Pakatan Rakyat state assemblypersons - Hee Yit Foong (Jelapang), Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) - are not on the BN list, despite their 'important contributions' to Perak BN.
V Sivakumar, the Speaker who was forcibly dragged out of the Assembly and locked in a room while a BN Speaker took over his duties, is a candidate for Batu Gajah parliamentary seat. He will not be part of the state administration should Pakatan win this time.
Ngeh Koo Ham (Sitiawan) is also defending his parliamentary seat of Beruas and Nga Kor Ming (Kepayang) is defending his parliamentary seat of Taiping.
By the way, ex-MB Tajol Rosli (Pengkalan Hulu) and ex-Minister Rafidah Aziz (Kuala Kangsar) are not contesting in this GE.
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