Subang masih kerusi selamat PH walau Wong Chen masuk Bersama, kata penganalisis

Analysts suggest that despite Wong Chen joining Bersatu, Subang remains a safe seat for Pakatan Harapan (PH). Wong Chen, a former PKR MP, switched to Bersatu after 17 years with PKR to represent Subang. He first entered the Dewan Rakyat in 2013 as MP for Kelana Jaya and held the Subang seat after it was renamed in 2018 and again in 2022.

In the 2022 general election, Wong Chen won Subang with a large majority of 115,074 votes in a three-cornered contest against Gerakan and MCA. Lau Zhe Wei, a political analyst from UiTM Malaysia, believes Subang is likely to remain in PH support due to the strong Chinese community, which makes up 54% of the electorate, followed by Malays (26.4%), Indians (16.8%), and others (1.6%).

Although Wong Chen might sway a portion of voters, PH is more likely to win in areas with high Chinese majorities like those dominated by DAP. Mazlan Ali, from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, predicts that Bersatu will face significant challenges as PH has won bandar seats in Selangor, such as Subang, Petaling Jaya, and Damansara, with margins in the tens of thousands of votes.

He believes Wong's personal strength may not automatically transfer to Bersatu, as past victories were achieved under PH. PH won by over 100,000 votes in Damansara, where educated voters, primarily in the T20 and M40 age groups, are harder to convince to support a new party. Wong may struggle to retain his seat in Subang, even if he is well-known in the area, according to Mazlan.

Lau Zhe Wei states that Wong Chen's service record alone may not be enough for Bersatu to win Subang unless he builds a strong personal profile. He cites former Rembau MP and former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who contested in Sungai Buloh during PRU15; Khairy eventually lost to Ramanan from PKR by a margin of 2,693 votes in a seven-corner contest.

Azmi Hassan, from Nusantara Academy, also believes Bersatu has a good chance in Subang if they field Wong Chen as their candidate, as he is already well-known in the area.