He told FMT he was not worried about PPBM, saying it was weak in Padang Rengas and its liaison chief in the state was inexperienced.
“We need to watch out for PKR because its presence is quite strong, especially in areas that are mixed, since it has the support of Chinese and Malays,” he said, adding that PAS would also be a threat because of its sizeable Malay support.
Nazri, who is tourism and culture minister, had a close call in Padang Rengas in the last general election. He beat PKR’s Meor Ahmad Isharra Ishak by only 2,230 votes, or 9.2% of the ballots cast.
He said it was crucial for Barisan Nasional to avoid “taking things for granted”.
“We need to work hard in providing service for the people and make sure that we are taking good care of them,” he said.
He claimed that voters generally did not see much of a difference between parties.
“They’re saying, ‘Umno is not good and PKR is also not good. So the best thing to do is to choose the better individual.’ As such, I think the candidate is important.”
Chinese voters make up 20% of the Padang Rengas constituents. “It’s quite a large number, and we’re concerned about them,” Nazri said.
However, he added that he was more concerned about the possibility of voters in Padang Rengas being influenced by their children who live outside the constituency and who are opposition supporters.
“They have the ability to convince the elders to vote for the opposition,” he said. “The elders here know me, but it’s still difficult. The influence of the youths is quite strong.”
Perak PKR chief Muhammad Nur Manuty said his party had identified a candidate for Padang Rengas but declined to reveal his name.
“Even though he is not 100% on par with Nazri with his ministerial post, I can assure you that he is a very popular guy,” he said. “He works very hard and he also comes from a good profession.”
He said the key to defeating Nazri was to choose a reliable candidate who is known to the locals and has good academic credentials and personal integrity.
However, he said Pakatan Harapan had yet to decide whether its candidate would be from PKR. “But we are trying very hard to keep that seat for us,” he added.
He claimed that the membership of Amanah and PPBM in Pakatan was enough to compensate for the likely loss of votes from PAS supporters.
He also said the PKR machinery in Padang Rengas was now “far better” than it was in 2013.
Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran said Nazri would be hard to defeat in Padang Rengas.
“The opposition can look at Padang Rengas, but it has to remember that Nazri is a man who is always on the ground,” he told FMT. “It’s not easy to take away the seat from him.”
Former Perak MIC chairman R Ganesan said non-Malay votes could be decisive in Padang Rengas.
“I’ve campaigned there before,” he said. “In 2008, Nazri won because the Chinese supported him. In 2013, the Indians supported him.”
However, he also said Barisan Nasional needed to work hard for the Malay votes. “We still do not know what stand PAS will take and how that will benefit us. But a three-cornered fight would benefit us.”