Second Objective of Battle of Gelang Patah – Target 19 of the 26 Parliamentary and 30 of the 56 State Assembly seats in Johore
Yesterday, when visiting Taman Damai Jaya in Gelang Patah, I spoke about the meaning of the Battle of Gelang Patah.
I stressed that the Battle of Gelang Patah is not my personal battle on whether I can be re-elected to Parliament.
If this is the case, I should stay back in Ipoh Timor which I had won with a majority of over 21,000 votes in the 2008 general elections, instead of going for a very high-risk contest in Gelang Patah which was won by the MCA/BN candidate with a majority of over 8,000 votes in 2008 and a humoungous majority of 31,666 votes in 2004.
In Gelang Patah I could very well lose but I am prepared to take the risk.
This is because the Battle of Gelang Patah is not so much about the victory or defeat of an individual or the gains or losses of individual parties, but whether Johore can become a “kingmaker” in the 13GE to spark a political tsunami in the country from the south and cross the South China Sea to effect the first peaceful and democratic transfer of power from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat.
The First Objective of the Battle of Gelang Patah is in south Johore – to target the six Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in south Johore to pave the way for Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya in the 13th General Elections.
Johor Baru has three parliamentary and six state assembly seats, namely Johor Bahru, Pasir Gudang and Tebrau parliamentary seats and Stulang, Tanjong Puteri, Johore Jaya, Permas, Puteri Wangsa and Tiram State Assembly seats.
None of these Johor Baru parliamentary and state assembly seats had been won by the Opposition, which is against the national trend where parliamentary and/or state assembly seats in the capital of most of the states are strongholds of the Opposition, whether Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu or the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur where the Pakatan Rakyat swept 10 of the 11 parliamentary seats in 2008.
There are three other parliamentary seats and seven state assembly seats in the South Johore region, namely Gelang Patah, Kulai and Pulai with seven state assembly seats, namely Skudai, Nusajaya, Pengkalan Rinting, Kempas, Senai, Bukit Batu and Bukit Permai.
Objective One of the Battle of Gelang Patah is to win for Pakatan Rakyat the six Parliamentary and 13 State Assembly seats in South Johore, for if we cannot achieve this objective, the chances of Pakatan Rakyat winning the 13GE to form the new Federal Government would be a very slim one.
The Second Objective of the Battle of Gelang Patah is the challenge to Pakatan Rakyat on a state-wide basis in Johore in 13GE.
If we can create a political tsunami to set off from Johore, then Pakatan Rakyat should aim to target 19 Parliamentary seats and 30 State Assembly seats.
The 19 Parliamentary seats are the 12 first-tier constituencies of Johor Bahru, Pasir Gudang, Tebrau, Pulai, Gelang Patah, Kulai, Tanjong Piai, Kluang, Batu Pahat, Bakri, Labis and Segamat and the seven second-tier seats of Sekijang, Ledang, Muar, Ayer Hitam, Sri Gading, Simpang Rengam and Sembrong.
For the 30 State Assembly seats in Johor, the Battle of Gelang Patah should target the 23 first-tier seats of Stulang, Tanjong Puteri, Johor Jaya, Permas, Puteri Wangsa, Tiram, Pengkalan Rinting, Kempas, Skudai, Nusajaya, Senai, Bukit Batu, Bukit Permai, Pekan Nenas, Mengkibol, Penggaram, Bentayam, Sungai Abong, Bekok, Jementah, Tangkak, Paloh and Yong Peng. There are seven second-tier winnable seats, viz: Mahkota, Layang-Layang, Parit Yaani, Maharani, Gambir, Tenang and Pemanis.
The future not only of Johore but also Malaysia is in the hands of the voters of Johore in the 13GE.