This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 28, 2022 - December 4, 2022

IN the 15th general election (GE15), Barisan Nasional retained only 15 of the 53 constituencies in Peninsular Malaysia that have been known as the “vote bank”, or safe seats for the coalition.

These seats are populated by Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) settlers and have been loyal to BN since the 1970s or, some might say, since the establishment of the government agency tasked with the resettlement of the rural poor into newly developed areas and to organise smallholder farms growing cash crops in 1965. Ultimately, its main objective is to eradicate rural poverty by cultivating rubber or oil palm and undertaking other agricultural activities.

BN, through Umno, has had an influence on the voting behaviour in FELDA settlements in the Malay heartland, owing to politicians riding the development activities of the agency to garner votes and cultivate loyalty. This has changed through the years, however, with other political parties encroaching into these Umno strongholds.

The 15 seats in the FELDA constituencies defended by BN in GE15, which turned out to be a bruising outing for the coalition, is half the coalition’s tally of 30 in the whole country, and compares with 26 and 47 in GE14 and GE13 respectively.

Whereas in GE14, voters in these mostly rural seats have continued to chip away at Umno’s, or BN’s, dominance in favour of Pakatan Harapan, in GE15, they have gone with PAS under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) banner. The addition of 6.23 million new voters, with the lowering of the voting age to 18 from 21 as well as automatic voter registration (AVR) in the recently concluded polls, seems to have worked against BN too.

“PAS peddling salvation to the settlers and since most of them don’t have much here on earth — in the settlements — it is not a bad bargain, seriously,” says economist Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi.

He adds that the first-generation settlers are ageing, having started out as settlers 30 to 40 years ago who worked hard to pay off the loans to FELDA and now own the land in the schemes and are somewhat isolated from others outside the settlements.

“It’s the second and third generations that’s the problem. They cannot live in the settlements. What’s the plan for them? There are no concrete plans,” he says, adding that he believes the new and younger voters voted against Umno, not just in FELDA settlements.

A FELDA second generation says the settlers’ third generation, who are in their early 20s and 30s, have no allegiance to BN. “Their address is still in FELDA but they live outside. They don’t like [Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi] but they’re not comfortable with PH. So, the majority of the votes went to PN, and PH second,” he says, adding that the government had not been as generous to the settlers as before.

“Previously, the settlers used to get a lot of goodies during Raya. Now, no more,” he complains.

Furthermore, the settlers also remember the mismanagement at FELDA and its listed commercial unit FGV Holdings Bhd.

“People still remember how Umno’s Isa and others mismanaged Felda. They still remember and don’t give votes to BN. They remember the sale of Felda’s assets and office in Jalan Semarak. Better to give the votes to PAS,” he adds.

In early 2021, former FELDA chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad was found guilty on nine charges of corruption involving RM3 million and was sentenced to six years’ jail and a fine of RM15.45 million for receiving gratification totalling RM3 million for helping approve the purchase of a hotel by Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd for RM160 million.

The Umno politician (at one time the party’s vice-president) and former menteri besar of Negeri Sembilan is appealing the guilty verdict.

Isa also faces lawsuits brought against him by FGV in relation to the acquisition of London-listed Asian Plantations Ltd in 2014. In another case, FGV is suing Isa for the purchase of two luxury condominiums in Kuala Lumpur at inflated prices.

When Isa was made FELDA chairman by then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2010, his appointment was challenged in court by four settlers, as he was neither a settler, staff of the group nor a member of Koperasi Permodalan FELDA, the cooperative for settlers and staff.

FELDA is also caught in a legal wrangle over the transfer of land located in Jalan Semarak in Kuala Lumpur.

Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd was appointed the master developer of the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City (KLVC) project during Isa’s time, pursuant to a development agreement with FELDA. Via the development agreement, Synergy Promenade was also granted a power of attorney for the purposes of the project, which the company used to enter into two sale and purchase agreements for the two parcels of land.

In 2018, following the execution of a memorandum of understanding between FELDA, Synergy Promenade and Synergy Promenade KLVC Sdn Bhd, the two parcels of land were transferred back to the agency. Synergy Promenade and its subsidiary subsequently filed suit against FELDA and the Federal Territory Land and Mines Office for a declaration that they are the registered owners of the two parcels of land.

“The settlers can see all of this. So, they are upset, deservedly so, with BN. It’s quite remarkable that the 15 are still standing in spite of all that’s happened,” says Nungsari.

According to Singapore-based Temasek History Research Centre, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, fellow Geoffrey K Pakiam’s research, included in the book The Defeat of Barisan Nasional: Missed Signs or Late Surge? published in 2019, BN’s vote margins had generally been falling steadily in many FELDA seats since 2004 in GE11, especially in the western half of the peninsula.

“This long-term trend suggests deepening dissatisfaction with everyday economic concerns, identity politics and unhappiness with what seem to be corrupt and self-serving political elites, even in rural areas,” he writes.

His research on the outcome of GE14 found that 12 seats retained by BN “scraped by” with marginal victories. The 12 seats (Padang Besar, Padang Terap, Tanah Merah, Gua Musang, Hulu Terengganu, Besut, Cameron Highlands, Bera, Kuala Krau, Jelebu, Jempol and Jasin) were split heavily in the non-BN vote between PAS and PH.

It is worth noting that, in GE15, eight of these 12 seats fell to PAS under the PN banner.

In Tanah Merah, Kelantan, PAS candidate Datuk Sri Ikmal Hisham crushed BN’s Umno candidate with a 64% majority. But, then, Ikmal is the incumbent candidate, having won the seat in the last two elections, contesting as an Umno member.

In Gua Musang, veteran Umno politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the country’s longest-serving MP, lost to Bersatu candidate Mohd Azizi Abu Naim by a slim majority of 163 votes.

Meanwhile, in the southern part of the peninsula, of seats that PH won in GE14, those that swung back to BN (Kuala Pilah, Tampin, Simpang Renggam) were in the minority while only Jasin fell to PAS. Pagoh is former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s stronghold while, in Mersing, the BN incumbent lost to Bersatu’s Muhammad Islahuddin Abas.

Will the green tide continue to erode what is left of BN’s vote deposit in constituencies populated by FELDA schemes?

“As an economist, I’d like to think this is about underdevelopment — lousy development economics or insufficient focus by successive governments on redefining the FELDA model, especially for the next generation. It’s about mainstreaming them, giving them hope, something to strive for as their parents did because they wanted the land and to pay off their debts,” says Nungsari.

“I believe [newly sworn in prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim] is well poised to handle this — to speak to them as dignified people to be developed, not to be exploited.

“Extremism is always due to something — economics that gets linked to the sense of where you are in the world, what you see, where you live and who you are. Frustration and despair may open many doors that lead to no good.”

Should the new administration address the issues faced by the FELDA settlers, there has to be honesty in wanting to develop them and free them from the FELDA model, and not just to “preserve them as a vote bank”, Nungsari says.

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