GE15: From 'scale' to 'moon' logo, what will happen to Tok Pa in Jeli?

THE incumbent Jeli Parliamentary Seat Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed or Tok Pa contesting using the moon symbol in the 15th General Election (GE15) will expect to face some hard work in his efforts to defend the victory he celebrated when representing Barisan Nasional (BN).

In GE14, the scale symbol became the 'umbrella' for Tok Pa which witnessed him successfully taking down Pas candidate Mohamad Hamid (15,018 votes) and PKR Azran Deraman (2,078) votes with a majority of 6,647 votes.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) had gained a total of 21,665 votes from BN voters at the time.

However, the sudden change in the political landscape in GE14 caused Tok Pa to decide to leave Umno and join Bersatu.

Tok Pa's action sparked anger amongst the BN voters who practically handed him the victory from GE11 up to GE14.

Guided by the situation, BN voters surely wanted to use GE15 to punish Tok Pa as a sign of protest towards his actions, stating he wanted to part ways with his old party.

The anger of BN voters was still visible and has not subsided even the Umno Supreme Working Council Member Datuk Seri Md Alwi Che Ahmad was reported by local media stating BN's optimism to take back the Jeli Parliamentary seat.

Md Alwi was stern with what he voiced and could not be seen as cynical by Tok Pa because the BN voters in GE14 were continuously seen as solid for the party.

Tok Pa needed to prepare his best to instill confidence in the Jeli voters to choose him as the people's representative.

This matter was due to the vote gap by the Pas candidate in GE14 being small that was around 15,018 compared to 21,665 votes while Tok Pa was in BN.

It must be remembered that the attitude of voters in Kelantan is different, they choose their support based on the party instead of the candidate.

Tok Pa needed to be aggressive and frequently meet with the people along with Pas machinery.

The previous record witnessed Tok Pa as the MP in GE9 in 1995 and was defeated in the next term.