Bera PKR coordinator Zakaria Abdul Hamid, who was his party’s GE13 candidate for the seat, told FMT the shortage of votes from Felda settlers was the only reason he lost.

“Despite it being a three-corner fight, I lost by less than 5% of the votes,” he said.

“I managed to win 80% of the Chinese votes. The only problem was that I got only 28% of the Felda Malay votes.

“This time around, my biggest hope is that the party will see a larger swing.”

The Bera seat was created in time for the 11th general election. It has since been occupied by Umno’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is Rural and Regional Development Minister.

In GE13, Zakaria got closer to winning the seat than PAS did in the previous two elections although there were fears that the opposition votes might be split by the entry of an independent candidate in the race. However, the independent, Mohd Wali Ahmad, got only about 1% of the votes.

Zakaria acknowledged that it would be nearly impossible for the opposition to win over the first-generation Felda settlers in Bera, but he claimed that the second generation was open to change.

“Even if there’s another three-corner fight in Bera, we need only 35% to 37% of the Felda votes to win,” he said. “I think we can do it.

“It’s difficult to get the older folks to change because they are comfortable and have their own land and don’t have much to worry about. But I can sense that members of the second generation are eager for change.”

It is likely that Zakaria will be Pakatan’s candidate for Bera in GE14.