Once-beloved MP Mas Ermieyati struggles with party-first Umno voters

Once-beloved MP Mas Ermieyati struggles with party-first Umno voters


GE15 | As you travel down the main road that cuts through the rural town of Masjid Tanah, a splash of colours against a beige wall breaks the monotony of trees, open fields, and scattered buildings.

It’s a mural of the town, its people, and for the past decade - their MP, Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.

For many of Masjid Tanah’s voters, it is a familiar face of a representative so well-liked that even those politically opposed to her respect her.

Once the national Puteri Umno chief, Mas Ermieyati had won convincing victories in 2013 and 2018.

However, her decision to leave Umno and join Bersatu appears to have divided her loyal supporters on whether to vote for a candidate or a party.

For a longtime voter who only wished to be known as Siti Norliza, it is due time for a change in the BN stronghold. Pledging her support for Mas Ermieyati, she said she was exhausted from BN’s corrupt ways.

Siti Norliza


She told Malaysiakini that despite Mas Ermieyati's switch to a different party, she still helped the constituents.

“I used to follow the party, but since she has switched I will follow her. She has good methods, the way she comes to our kampung and interacts with us.

“There are lights, the roads are clean, we’ve had developments such as a resource centre,” said the Kampung Semut resident.

Malacca polls a sign?

Mas Ermieyati’s popularity on the ground, however, has not translated all too well for her at the ballot box.

During the 2021 Malacca state election, Mas Ermieyati, contesting under the PN ticket, lost the Tanjung Bidara seat to BN’s Ab Rauf Yusof by a slim 364 votes.

While she was able to gain 44 percent of votes in the state polls, her coalition PN fared much worse in other state seats in Masjid Tanah.

Voting data from across Masjid Tanah’s five state seats in 2021 indicated support for BN was at 54.5 percent, followed by PN (30.3 percent) and Harapan (15.2 percent) - suggesting that a large segment of Mas Ermieyati’s supporters did not follow her on her political exodus.

Some voters Malaysiakini talked to were especially adamant on following the party despite acknowledging the two-term MP’s contributions to the constituency.

A particularly jaded voter Malaysiakini met was a market trader who only wanted to be known as Ismail, who felt that he could only vote for the party as candidates alone tended to be political frogs.

Using the analogy of a flashlight, he said that candidates were likely to shine at 50 watts prior to polling day, but dim to 5 watts once given the people’s mandate.

“We can’t follow candidates because they are frogs, we must follow the party. It’s not about whether they are good or not, but more because we are forced to (vote for party) because there is no one else,” he said.

Mas Ermieyati quit Umno in 2018, disappointed by the party’s decision to vote in Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as president. She joined Bersatu later that year.

Four years later, the pain of her defection from Umno was still felt in Masjid Tanah.

‘Pengkhianat’

During Malaysiakini’s time on the coastline of Pengkalan Balak, a fishing and tourist village situated 7km away from the town centre, we came across a poster with the words “Pengkhianat” (traitor) branded across a picture of the incumbent.

It further read: “Why would you betray us Masjid Tanah voters on the trust that was given... don’t be selfish...”.

A trader who declined to be named told Malaysiakini that the poster had been there for several days but it remains unclear who had planted it.

Mas Ermieyati admitted in an interview with Malaysiakini that her biggest challenge in the coming election was to gain support in a constituency she labelled a “fixed deposit” for BN.

She said she needed to work harder to get the trust and support from voters in Masjid Tanah after moving from BN to PN.

She said while youths were aware that she was now contesting under the PN ticket, the longtime voters were still under the impression that she was with BN.

“I’ve also received a few reports of (constituents) receiving (anonymous) calls notifying them I was no longer in PN but in BN. (They were told) to vote for BN on Nov 19 if they wanted to support me.

“That remains one of my biggest challenges, it’s not easy for me to contest in Masjid Tanah,” she said.

This party-first sentiment is not lost on Mas Ermieyati’s election team - operating from one of the lots along the row of shops where the incumbent’s mural is located.

But that’s not all that weighed on their minds.

Outstation, youth, and women voters

The campaigners, who spoke on condition of anonymity, related to Malaysiakini that there was also uncertainty about who outstation voters and new voters would choose - if they do return.

Buoyed by the implementation of Undi18 and automatic voter registration - the number of voters in Masjid Tanah has grown by 17,283 (33.36 percent), which could potentially sway the seat in an entirely different direction.

But it’s not just PN that is worried about new and outstation voters.

Right behind the row of shops that houses Mas Ermieyati’s operations lies the suburban neighbourhood of Taman Bandar Baru. On a normal day, an outsider wouldn’t have batted an eye when passing by.

Last Thursday, however, a group of women clad in BN blue were gathered in the living room of a local Wanita Umno leader, who only wished to be referred to as Puan Saadiah.

Sitting on the sofa was the constituency’s Taboh Naning assemblyperson Latipah Omar, urging Umno members of the Masjid Tanah division to spread the word on the importance of voting for Umno.

The 20 women that filled the tiny room were especially told to relay the message to their children, the youth, promising them more education and job opportunities

“Go home and urge your children, it’s important. I worry about them because they don’t know about the grey (electoral areas),” she said.

As Latipah whipped up the women’s spirits, 37-year-old Abdul Hakim Abdul Wahid - who was seated next to her - appeared to have other things on his mind.

Just a few days ago, Hakim was just the Masjid Tanah Umno Youth chief. Now he was BN’s candidate for the parliamentary seat.

BN’s Masjid Tanah candidate Abdul Hakim Abdul Wahid (seated) with supporters


It was the greenhorn’s first time contesting an election, and experiencing the packed schedule candidates must endure during the campaign.

Malaysiakini didn’t arrive at Puan Saadiah’s house in time to observe Hakim interacting with the Wanita Umno campaigners.

But during an evening tea session with single mothers in Kuala Linggi later, he appeared somewhat approachable.

There, he vowed to serve Masjid Tanah’s women folk, especially those in tough socioeconomic conditions.

“Insyallah (God willing) I will repay the folk at the single mothers’ association in the Kuala Linggi state assembly. My mother, too, was a single mother, I know how difficult it is,” he said.

Muda’s new face

Besides Mas Ermieyati and Hakim, another contender for the seat was Muda’s Mutalib Uthman.

On the surface, Mutalib - who is a businessperson in the education and publishing industries - may appear a force to be reckoned with..

But in a predominantly Malay rural constituency where a local face is highly appreciated, Mutalib - who hails from Perak where he is the Muda chief - will have an uphill battle ahead of him.

Muda, which is in an electoral pact with Harapan, must win an overwhelming amount of support from Masjid Tanah’s new voters - around 18,000 - to have a shot at winning.

While Muda’s angle is that it is a party of youths - one young voter who won’t be voting for Mutalib was a 20-year-old who wished to be known as Izzah.

“I get scared based on what people have said about Pakatan Harapan, so I have rejected (coalition leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) quite early on,” she told Malaysiakini.

The student admitted that she was not well versed with the political situation and consulted the people in her area - a BN stronghold - for information, but said that she had also heard good things about Mas Ermieyati.

“I will further discuss with my family before polling day,” she said, adding that they were also conflicted on their choice of candidate.

There are, however, some Harapan supporters in Masjid Tanah that Mutalib can rely on such as Abu Hussin Tamby - a staunch Harapan supporter - who himself had contested in the Ayer Limau assembly seat for PKR back in 2008.

Abu Hussin Tamby


Abu, who now sells vegetables to make a living after the Covid-19 pandemic, said that while Mas Ermieyati was good at providing welfare to the Masjid Tanah constituents, she lacked direction in building the economy.

The 52-year-old lamented a lack of development and opportunities in Masjid Tanah compared to the other five parliamentary constituencies in Malacca.

“This area (Masjid Tanah) has been defended by ministers. We had Abu Seman Yusop who was the deputy home minister. Then we had Mas Ermieyati who was made a (deputy) minister as well, there should be some development.

“Mas Ermieyati is good at (giving) welfare but in this era, economic development is important. If we don’t have an MP that is economic-minded, how will there be job opportunities? There are so many local issues that need to be addressed,” he said.

One other contender for Masjid Tanah was Gerakan Tanah Air’s Handrawirawan Abu Bakar.

Election day is Nov 19.