“They feel unappreciated and they feel that the opposition (DAP) has let them down. Urban areas in Melaka, including my seat have strong supporters of the DAP, but today, the DAP seems to have taken their votes for granted.”
Sim, who resigned from the DAP in February last year and is now an independent, said the opposition thinking appeared to be that certain seats were ‘sure wins’ based on previous general election results.
Speaking to FMT, he said while he would not be able to command a sizable number of voters to impact the coming general election, many voters in Melaka were his strong supporters and had been voting for him since he started contesting seven general elections ago.
“People have voted for me not because of which party I belonged to, but they have indirectly become DAP supporters since I was a DAP member and they believed in what I did.
“They have asked me if I would be contesting this coming general election because they want to vote for me. I haven’t decided if I want to contest. After all I am turning 70, I’m quite exhausted,” said Sim.
Sim warned that the support for opposition parties did not look good at the moment.
Malacca voters were prepared to even cast votes for the Barisan Nasional (BN) as a protest vote if a third choice was not available, he claimed.
“I hope they (the opposition coalition) know what is happening in Melaka, otherwise they will risk losing supporters to BN.
“While I don’t agree with spoiling votes, because votes are something to be treasured, but, out of frustration, understanding that votes are powerful, these voters will protest and lend their power to BN.
“For them, even if they don’t like BN, they see this as teaching the opposition a lesson for taking their votes for granted,” he claimed.
He, however, said it was undeniable that the general election result in Melaka would not affect the opposition’s agenda nationwide greatly, as not many seats were held by the opposition in the state.
“The opposition is only strong in urban areas and some semi-urban areas – Ayer Keroh, Bachang, Bukit Baru, Bukit Katil, Kota Melaka, Bandar Hilir and Kota Laksamana, to name a few.
“BN is still in control of all the rural areas and the constituents are quite happy with them, so I don’t see any changes taking place in rural areas.
“Then (in GE13), BN successfully defended four parliamentary seats – Masjid Tanah; Alor Gajah; Tangga Batu and Jasin. These seats, the opposition will not be able to penetrate.
“Seats like Durian Tunggal and Teluk Mas, they (opposition) should have taken in 2013, since it was the year that they were doing really well.
“They should give up on seats like Klebang and Bemban, and focus on other seats. It is impossible to win there,” he said.
In 2013, BN retained Melaka by a two-third majority in the 13th general election (GE13). BN won 21 state seats, two less than the 23 seats won in GE12.
Melaka has 28 state and six parliamentary seats.
The 21 state seats won by BN are Kuala Linggi, Tanjung Bidara, Ayer Limau, Lendu, Taboh Naning, Rembia, Gadek, Machap, Durian Tunggal, Asahan, Sungai Udang, Pantai Kundor, Paya Rumput, Kelebang, Ayer Molek, Telok Mas, Bemban, Rim, Serkam, Merlimau and Sungai Rambai.
Sim said the presence of PPBM and Amanah in Melaka would not pose any threat to the BN. He said there was not much hope for a change in the state government.
“The only thing the opposition can hope to do is convince their supporters to return to their side, otherwise even the floating voters will not come out to vote,” said Sim.
Sim was DAP’s sole MP from Malacca. Four of the other Malacca MPs are from BN while one is from the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
Since the resignations of Sim and three other Malacca legislators early last year, the DAP lost half of its assemblymen in the state.
The four men have since become independent lawmakers.
“They (opposition) still have time in the next few months to get their act together. We’ll see what happens then. But they have to be careful and anticipate that their safe seats may no longer be safe seats.”
The biggest fight according to Sim would take place in Bukit Katil where BN lost in GE13. Melaka PKR chairman Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin beat Melaka BN chairman and former chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam by a majority of 5,447 votes. It was the only seat won by PKR in Melaka.
“We expect that if there is a redelineation, in the Bukit Katil parliamentary seat, the number of Malay voters will increase from 53% to 67.5%.
“This will be light at the end of the tunnel for BN,” chief minister Idris Haron was quoted as saying at the launch of the annual Tangga Batu Umno division meeting last August.