COMMENT | Sg Bakap Part 1: Still running green?

COMMENT | This weekend, two candidates were nominated in a straight fight for the Sungai Bakap by-election in Penang, the fifth by-election since the new government was formed in November 2022.

They were Abidin Ismail from the Islamist party PAS and Joohari Ariffin from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s party PKR.

Given that the constituency is in the home state of the prime minister and his party held the seat for three terms/15 years until last year’s state election, PKR leaders are portraying the contest optimistically with a chance to win.

Rather than ratchet down expectations, they are building them up – a common practice of PKR.

What PKR are hoping for is that the trend since 2023 of incumbent parties holding onto state seats will be broken and that they will be able to wrest back the seat they lost to PAS in 2023.

If PKR can achieve this, it would...