PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan sees the battle in Pahang as crucial in its attempt to sway rural voters to its side in the coming general election, according to the coalition’s liaison chief in the state, Fauzi Abdul Rahman.

He told FMT this was why Pakatan decided to let PPBM contest for six parliamentary seats in Pahang, leaving four for PKR, three for DAP and one for Amanah.

Twelve of the 14 parliamentary constituencies in the state contain Felda settlements. The only two which do not are Kuantan and Indera Mahkota, both of which PKR won in the last general election.

Fauzi, who is also Pahang PKR chief, said there was no denying that Pahang’s rural folk had an affinity for Umno, particularly former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is now chairman of both PPBM and Pakatan.

Because of this, he said, PPBM would have a better chance than any other Pakatan party to sway them away from Umno.

“You cannot underestimate the rural folk’s fondness for Mahathir,” he added.

Fauzi said Pakatan Rakyat would have won Putrajaya in the last general election if it had been able to win 3% to 4% more of the votes.

“With PPBM contesting in Pahang, we might be able to get that extra 3% to 4%.”

Suffian Mansor, a senior lecturer in history, politics and strategic studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, agreed that PPBM was the best choice to contest for the majority of parliamentary seats in Pahang.

“PPBM’s job is to win the votes from the rural Malays, including those who would ordinarily vote for Barisan Nasional as well as some fence sitters,” he told FMT.

“We see that PPBM has managed to make inroads into Felda settlements and this is a major thing for the coalition, especially in Pahang.”

However, he added that it was still difficult to say whether Pakatan, even with PPBM’s help, would be able to win in Pahang because “that’s where the prime minister’s seat is.”

PPBM will be contesting in Pekan, Lipis, Paya Besar, Maran, Jerantut and Kuala Krau. DAP will fight in Raub, Bentong and Cameron Highlands; PKR in Indera Mahkota (currently held by Fauzi), Kuantan, Rompin and Bera; and Amanah in Temerloh.

In GE13, DAP contested for the same three seats. PKR contested for Indera Mahkota, Kuantan, Paya Besar, Pekan and Bera, and PAS contested in Lipis, Jerantut, Maran, Kuala Krau, Temerloh and Rompin.

The seats Pakatan Rakyat won were Indera Mahkota, Kuantan, Temerloh and Raub.