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If the strength of the Barisan Nasional (BN)-Perikatan Nasional (PN) machinery on the ground is anything to go by, the coalition appears poised to wrest the Ampangan state seat from Pakatan Harapan (PH), according to local voters.
Speaking to TRP during a visit to a night market where campaigning was taking place this evening, several residents pointed to the visible presence and mobilisation of the BN-PN campaign as a sign of growing support for the opposition pact.
Ampangan is being contested by PN as part of the electoral understanding reached with BN for the Negeri Sembilan state election, with PN fielding candidates in 11 seats while BN contests 25.
“If you look at the situation now, I think the PH candidate will lose. As a voter, I will support whoever brings about Malay unity,” said 66-year-old Mahat Mohd Nadar.
The self-declared BN supporter said he would have no hesitation voting for the PN candidate this time following the cooperation between both parties.
“What can we do? BN is not contesting here and has given way to PN, so I will vote for the PN candidate tomorrow,” he said.
Another local resident and Ampangan voter, 40-year-old Asrul Adi Hashim, said the BN-PN campaign had gained encouraging momentum in the constituency.
“Their campaign is clearly overshadowing PH. Looking at the current situation, it seems PH could lose,” he said.
READ MORE: Ilham Centre: BN-PN On Course To Secure Stable Majority In Negeri Sembilan
At the final campaign event held outside UTC Seremban this evening, BN-PN rallied behind Datuk Dr Mohamad Rafie Ab Malek, the former assemblyman who won the Ampangan seat in 2018 under the PKR banner.
Mohamad Rafie, however, left PKR after he was not selected as the party’s candidate for the 2023 state election. He subsequently contested as an independent candidate but narrowly lost to PH’s Tengku Zamrah Tengku Sulaiman.
Tengku Zamrah retained Ampangan for PH in the 2023 Negeri Sembilan state election with a narrow 329-vote majority in a three-cornered contest involving Mohamad Rafie.
The result made Ampangan one of PH’s most vulnerable seats in Negeri Sembilan, with the constituency widely regarded as a key swing seat where voter sentiment can shift between political coalitions.
In the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election, BN is contesting 25 seats while PN is fielding candidates in 11 seats. PH, meanwhile, is defending all 36 seats it currently holds.
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