As UMNO folks keep backing PN, PH needs to rethink GE16 collab plans with BN
UMNO folks have done it again - they voted for Perikatan Nasional, this time around in the Sungai Bakap by-election on July 6.
PAS' Abidin Ismail retained the Penang state seat with 4, 267 majority votes, nearly threefold than the majority gained by the late assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff in last year's Penang state elections (1, 563 votes).
The massive increase in the majority votes gained by PAS was only made possible with the intensified support given by UMNO folks to the opposition coalition this time. There is no way that Sg Bakap PN supporters alone would have helped the Islamist party retain the seat. The UMNO grassroots there played their part too.
The action by these UMNO folks must have been devastating for the party. After all, the Barisan Nasional lynchpin thought that it was able to bring back Malays' support for PH following the results of the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election, where DAP was able to retain the Selangor state seat.
Party leaders have tried to convince the 5,000 members here in Sg Bakap to back the PKR candidate, with the hope that it could reverse the voting trend witnessed in last year's Penang elections, where PN was able to wrest 11 Malay-majority seats (including UMNO's traditional seats Sungai Dua and Permatang Berangan) due to votes given by the party supporters in the state.
Last Saturday's by-election results clearly showed that they had failed in their efforts.
UMNO folks still hate DAP, PH
The message given by UMNO folks in the Sg Bakap by-election was clear: they still hate DAP and Pakatan Harapan. They still could not accept the working relationship that BN is having with its "former" longtime nemesis PH in Putrajaya and Komtar, although it has been more than a year and a half since both coalitions began their partnership.
They could not bear the thought of having to vote for PH that has their much-detested DAP inside it. I can understand their contempt for PH and DAP.
After all, they have been hardwired for decades into believing that DAP is an "anti-Malay, anti-Islam, secularist and communist party" hell-bent on removing the Bumiputeras of their privileges and making Malaysia a fully secular state.
It is not easy for them to be deprogrammed now, just because BN is currently working with DAP. To think they can be somehow fully deprogrammed and be made to fully embrace PH and DAP is a nonsensical one.
Now what, PH?
PH leadership needs to embrace the undeniable, sobering reality that Umno supporters would never give their full support for the coalition in future elections.
Umno folks’ continuous boycott of the coalition should convince the latter to stop being reliant on Umno to win the Malay voters, as it is becoming more evident now that the Malay party is fast losing its support base.
PH leaders need to look into what strategies and narratives to adopt to win over the conservative Malay voters on their own, without resorting to a hard-right pivot, as it is turning off the non-Malay voters who have been firmly behind the coalition for long.
The by-election results have posed an important question for PH leaders to answer: Is it time to rethink plans to collaborate with BN for the 16th general elections?
In recent weeks, leaders in both BN and PH camps have indicated their willingness to partner up for the next general elections.
Umno president cum BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on June 30 that the coalition will partner up with PH for the GE16. Six days later, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said that he welcomed BN’s eagerness to work with PH for the elections.
When it comes to political partnerships, there are some conditions commonly agreed upon among the politicos - which are that these partnerships need to be accepted by all involved parties and that they would bring benefits for all involved parties.
In the case of a possible BN-PH collab plan, one of the benefits that come into question is the mutual transfer of votes between PH and BN.
But, here is the issue - when Umno folks are firmly behind PN, how does it provide assurance to PH that BN is fully supportive of the partnership plan?
Also, how can PH be assured that this partnership would benefit them when their candidates are being rejected by Umno folks? It is worth pointing out that PH saw this partnership fail to bear fruit last year when its candidates failed to win Malay-majority seats in the 2023 state elections due to Umno supporters’ backing of PN.
Here in Penang (where The Mutiara Sentinel is based), BN was able to wrest Bertam and Sungai Acheh seats from PN, partly due to the votes given by PH supporters there. Unfortunately, PH (especially PKR and Amanah) failed to retain a lot of Malay majority seats like Penanti, Permatang Pasir and Pulau Betong because Umno folks here voted for PN candidates.
By continuously voting for PN candidates, Umno folks are undoubtedly providing lifelines to opposition politicians.
Therefore, the answer to the question asked earlier would be this: a BN-PH partnership for GE16 would not benefit the latter purely due to the contempt of Umno folks towards PH, especially DAP.
Therefore, PH grassroots leaders and members need to persuade the top leadership to consider running solo for GE16. But here is another question to be asked: would PH’s top leaders - especially chairman Anwar Ibrahim - listen to them?
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