PN reliance on PAS, Malay issues was ineffective, says analyst

FMT:

PN reliance on PAS, Malay issues was ineffective, says analyst

Rex Tan and Howard Tsen

The opposition strategy appeared to have lacked impact on the moderate Malay voters and multi-ethnic demographic of Ayer Kuning

Perikatan Nasional’s candidate, Abdul Muhaimin Malek garnered 6,059 votes in the Ayer Kuning by-election which was won by Barisan Nasional. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional’s over-reliance on PAS and the rhetoric of championing Malay issues may have contributed to the opposition’s loss at the Ayer Kuning by-election yesterday, according to a political analyst.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the PN strategy had less effect on the moderate Malays and Ayer Kuning’s multi-ethnic demographic.

He said PN had largely campaigned on national issues, such as the costs of living, inflation and Malay-Muslim sentiment, but failed to win over multiracial and moderate voters who previously supported Pakatan Harapan.


“PN may have also believed they could inherit PH voters with anti-BN sentiment. But this clearly did not happen,” Awang Azman told FMT.

BN candidate Yusri Bakir won the by-election with a 5,006-vote majority, more than double the 2,213-vote majority obtained by BN in 2022.


The PN candidate, Abdul Muhaimin Malek of PAS, garnered 6,059 votes while Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s KS Bawani received only 1,106 votes.

The voter turnout in the by-election was 58.07%.

BN-PH alliance at work

Awang Azman said the BN-PH alliance, made up of two former rivals, appeared to be working despite their voters supporting them based on strategic reasons rather than loyalty.

He said that the urban and young voters, who are traditionally supporters of PH, seemed willing to support BN in a bid to deny PN a victory.

“It demonstrates that BN-PH cooperation can work if their voters perceive a common enemy. In this case, the enemy is PN. However, it’s uncertain if this alliance can be sustained in the long term. BN needs to modernise to appeal to younger PH-leaning voters,” he added.

Missing BN-PH voters

Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said the bigger majority for BN showed that the BN-PH is working in Perak, which effectively shot down PN’s claim that the alliance is not functioning well.


However, the voting pattern showed that many BN-PH supporters might have abstained.

He said it appeared that PN’s voters had come out in full force, as the opposition coalition suffered only a mild loss of around 800 votes compared to the 2022 election, despite the voter turnout dropping from 74% to 58%.

The voter turnout for PN was very good, compared to voters for PH and BN, many of whom did not vote, said Azmi. “Maybe they believed that their candidate would win (the by-election) anyway.”