KUALA LUMPUR: The community of Felda settlers is definitely a target of the political parties wooing voters in this 15th General Election (GE15).
The parties know that these 1.5 million electors out of the 21.17 million in GE15 can be a vote bank.
Reaching out to these settlers is more easily said than done because they are spread out in 317 resettlement schemes throughout the country.
However, each of their votes is seen as significant because 54 of the total 222 parliamentary constituencies in the country have Felda schemes, with Pahang and Negeri Sembilan having the bigger acreages.
Going by constituency, Jempol in Negeri Sembilan and Rompin, Bera, Jerantut and Paya Besar in Pahang have a large number of Felda settlers.
The Felda community also abounds in the constituencies of Hulu Selangor (in Selangor), Lahad Datu (Sabah), Kubang Pasu and Padang Terap (Kedah), Tanjung Malim (Perak), Gua Musang (Kelantan) and Kota Tinggi, Kulai and Sembrong (Johor).
Most of the Felda schemes are located in rural areas and the majority of the electors there are Malay.
Felda, or the Federal Land Development Authority, was initiated in the 1950s by Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who went on to become the second prime minister, to improve the social and economic conditions of the poverty-stricken rural community.
The authority has developed by leaps and bounds over the past 66 years, playing a huge role in the development of the settlers, many of whom are now in the fourth generation.
Political analyst Dr Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub said the Felda electors would certainly vote for a political party that can give them a better life.
He said Barisan Nasional (BN) is seen to have a bright chance of winning back the hearts of Felda voters based on the party’s excellent track record of having implemented various initiatives to raise the community’s living standard.
“For me, Felda voters remain BN’s fixed deposit even though in the last general election we saw what may have been a rejection of BN by a portion of the settlers,” he said.
Mohammad Tawfik, who is a senior lecturer with the Faculty of Economics and Administration of Universiti Malaya, told Bernama that in this election, the Felda electors would re-evaluate BN’s contributions and services and lend their support to the coalition, taking into account the benefits they derived right from the first generation of settlers and the opening of land by the BN (and predecessor Alliance) leadership, including Tun Abdul Razak.
Since the elections in the 1970s, the Felda community has been the vote bank and fixed deposit of BN in clinching electoral victories to form the federal government.
However, with the change in the political landscape in GE14, the fixed deposit status waned when the BN won only 26 of the 54 Felda-dotted parliamentary seats in that year, compared to 48 seats in GE13 and 46 seats in GE12.
Mohammad Tawfik said that though the Felda community is currently more open, especially the younger generation, its support for BN is basically intact.
“Perhaps, the third generation or the young people are more open (when it comes to voting). Some of these people have studied and worked elsewhere, and their views of the ruling government may have changed ... as was seen in GE14 in 2018.
“Nevertheless, in this election, some of them may no longer be influenced by perception politics and there are no major issues affecting Felda that can become campaign material. For me, when the young people can see progress, they will return to the original administration,” he said.
A second-generation Felda settler who wanted to be known as Mohd Faizul, 40, said Felda settlers want a stable government because they do not want to face economic uncertainty that will lead to many like him to lose their jobs.
The father of one said that following the change of government in 2018, he lost his contract job of eight years after the government agency was closed.
“After that, I returned to the village and helped my family to manage the oil palm smallholding but the price (of palm oil) plunged. Life was really hard at that time, what with the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic as well.
“I have voted four times in elections. We want a comprehensive change in life. I hope the oil palm downstream activities can be conducted on a large scale so that the standard of living of the Felda community can be improved,” said Mohd Faizul, who hails from the Lui Barat Felda Scheme in Jempol, Negeri Sembilan.
His view was shared by Md Zulkifle Md Yunos, village head of the Lurah Bilut Felda Scheme in Bentong, Pahang, who said Felda settlers were not much into politics but know what they want – a stable government that consistently takes care of their welfare.
“We want a government that can fulfil its promises and not one that makes empty promises. We also observe how the government treats the settlers. Priority is definitely given to those who can guarantee the country’s political stability.
“When the country is stable, the economy improves. If not, like the rest of the people, the settlers are also affected, especially when the price of palm oil is unstable,” he said.
Md Zulkifle said the political instability after the general election in 2018 allowed the settlers to evaluate the experience of being under three different national administrations, which would help determine the votes from the Felda land schemes in GE15.
He also said that the settlers want to know the plans of the relevant parties for the future of the Felda settlers, particularly the residents of the Lurah Bilut Felda Scheme which is into its fifth generation of settlers.
Hasnah Abdul Ghani, 63, a settler of the Chini Felda Scheme in Pekan, Pahang, said she was not interested in the sweet promises of the political parties as she had already made up her mind on whom to vote for but would not stop anyone from making their own choice.
“I am from the old generation. I joined the land scheme in 1983. Life was hard at that time, but it improved and helped me raise my eight children. For me, that is proof of what the government has done to help people like me,” she said.
Felda was established on July 1, 1956, under the Land Development Ordinance 1956 (Act 474) for land development and resettlement under the Group Settlement Areas (GSA) or Act 530 with the objective of poverty eradication through the cultivation of oil palm and rubber.
The functions of Felda include implementing land development projects and agricultural, industrial, commercial and socio-economic activities.-Bernama