JOHOR BARU: The votes of the new generation Felda settlers in the Malay heartlands of Johor can swing to either side of the political divide and that is why Barisan Nasional is using a different approach in its campaigns, say analysts.

       Azmi Hassan, a senior fellow at Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research, said Barisan knew that Felda settler seats were no longer its “fixed deposit” after its loss in the 2018 general election.

       This was why Barisan had intensified its campaign in Felda settlements, and its programmes had involved Umno veterans such as Tan Sri Shahrir Samad, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Datuk Seri Razali Ibrahim, the former three-term Muar MP.

       Another new strategy employed by Barisan, said Azmi, was to field second-generation Felda settlers at key state seats such as Sedili, Layang-Layang, and Penawar.

       “Barisan has learnt a lot from its mistakes in 2018 and that it cannot take Felda voters for granted.

       “There is no guarantee that the second and third generation Felda settlers will vote for Umno,” said Azmi.

       Johor has 73 Felda settlements and this covers about 13 Parliamentary seats and 21 state constituencies. In 2018, Barisan only managed to retain five Felda parliamentary seats – Sembrong, Tenggara, Kota Tinggi, Mersing and Pengerang.

       In Mersing, former Umno MP Datuk Abd Latiff Ahmad later defected to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

       Azmi believes that caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Hasni Mohamed has made inroads for Barisan in Felda areas after he recently allocated 3,200 lots of land for the construction of housing for second-generation Felda settlers.

       “Housing and the cost of living are the main issues. What was done by Hasni is brilliant. I believe Barisan still has the upper hand,” said Azmi.

       Azmi said Layang-Layang would be a seat to observe, as its outcome will determine whether Barisan’s strategy of fielding second generation Felda settlers will prevail against PKR’s Dr Maszlee Malik, the former education minister who is also Simpang Renggam MP.

       Layang-Layang, one of the state constituencies under Simpang Renggam, will see a four-cornered fight among PKR’s Maszlee, Barisan’s Abdul Mutalib Abd Rahim, Pejuang’s Ahmad Shafiq Othaman and Perikatan’s K. Alagathiran.

       Abdul Mutalib was the former Layang-Layang assemblyman from 2013 to 2018, before Barisan fielded Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

       Universiti Malaya’s Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said even former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s outfit Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), is aiming to make inroads into Felda settler areas.

       “Dr Mahathir never entered into the Felda settler area in Machap during his years as prime minister. But, recently, he was campaigning in Felda areas in Machap. This shows that anyone can campaign at Felda areas,” said Awang.