POLITICAL MERGER ON THE CARDS? – WILL IT BE UMNO-PKR OR PKR-UMNO? – LONG-STANDING RUMOURS RECIRCULATE AS UMNO VOTES SAID TO HELP PAKATAN WIN AT MOSTLY-MALAY SIMPANG JERAM – INDEED IF ZAHID’S UMNO IS FAST LOSING MALAY SUPPORT, ‘TIN KOSONG’ ANWAR’S PKR IS LOSING MALAY VOTES EVEN FASTER – MIGHT AS WELL THEY MERGE AS WAS ALWAYS THE MUCH-TOUTED ‘PLAN B OR C OR D’ WHEREBY ANWAR WOULD RETURN TO UMNO & BRING WITH HIM PKR – IF THIS HAPPENS, BRACE A MAJOR POLITICAL REORGANISATION WITH NON-MALAY LEADERS & DAP ALSO INVOLVED

Business, Politics | September 15, 2023 9:42 am by | 0 Comments

BN votes pushed PH past the post in Simpang Jeram, say analysts

Observers say Amanah’s Nazri Abdul Rahman’s bigger win suggests that Umno grassroots are warming to the party’s messaging.

Amanah’s Nazri Abdul Rahman won the Simpang Jeram by-election by an increased majority of 1,115 votes compared to his predecessor, the late Salahuddin Ayub.

PETALING JAYA: A vote transfer from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan helped the Anwar Ibrahim-led coalition secure a larger victory in the Simpang Jeram by-election than at the Johor state election last year, analysts said.

On Saturday, Amanah’s Nazri Abdul Rahman won the by-election by a majority of 3,514 votes. Nazri’s margin of victory was 1,115 votes more than the one secured by the late Salahuddin Ayub in 2022.

Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the increased margin “clearly showed and proved” the transferability of votes from BN to PH.

“It seems like the support given by Umno (to PH) in the Simpang Jeram by-election was more significant than in the previous six state elections.

“It might be due to a better understanding (between the coalitions) and Umno still enjoying huge support from its grassroots in Johor,” Mazlan told FMT.

Both analysts said the voting pattern dispelled any notion of Umno supporters boycotting the BN-PH partnership.

This is despite Umno voters previously deserting the unity coalition to throw their support in favour of Perikatan Nasional candidates at the six state elections on Aug 12.

“The notion that the (Umno) grassroots would reject the partnership is untrue in this context,” Awang Azman told FMT.

Both Mazlan and Awang Azman said the Simpang Jeram polls proved that the Umno leadership had to a certain extent been successful in explaining BN’s partnership with PH.

“However, there is a need for continuous efforts from both BN and PH to explain (working together) to their respective grassroots, multiply support and build more momentum for the unity government,” Awang Azman said.

Mazlan said support given by BN grassroots to PH in Simpang Jeram would provide the impetus for the two coalitions to work more closely together in the Pelangai by-election in Pahang next month.

However, Azmil Tayeb of Universiti Sains Malaysia said the low voter turnout in Simpang Jeram made it difficult to draw firm conclusions.

He said it was likely that BN supporters did not come out to vote.

“(The results) are a mix of Umno’s legacy in Johor and low turnout by BN supporters,” he told FMT.

Only 60.9% of eligible voters cast their ballots in Simpang Jeram on Saturday, according to the Election Commission.

Azmil also said Umno still had work to do to convince its supporters, after the relatively high “no-show” number at the ballot box. FMT

Alliance with DAP prompts Umno self-scrutiny

Partnership could dissolve myths about DAP propagated by Umno to scare the Malays.

The first signs that DAP’s decision to work with Umno in Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government are bearing fruit is now discernible.

A couple of Umno leaders, albeit anonymously, have chided those among their ilk who continue to blame the DAP for the party’s continuing poor performance in the polls.

These leaders were quoted in a news report in Free Malaysia Today as saying that Umno leaders who finger the DAP for the Malay party’s anaemic outings on the hustings are barking up the wrong tree.

It took courage for these leaders to say what they said even if they sheltered under the cloak of anonymity.

Merely saying so, albeit anonymously, was a welcome step towards self-correction and improvement.

“I have seen the enemy and he is us,” was the famous quip of a character called Pogo in an American satire on self-preparedness.

The self-scrutineers in Umno noted that DAP had made more sacrifices towards making the unity government, not only at the federal realm but also at the state level, work.

They pointed out DAP did not ask for representation, in terms of posts and portfolios at the federal and state levels, commensurate with their parliamentary and state tallies.

Merely by doffing their hats to this realistic calculus, those Umno self-scrutineers are pushing their party towards critical self-examination in preference to self-pity.

In time this ought to lead to examination of the triad of accusations that Umno has long fostered among the Malays, that DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Muslim and anti-royal.

These accusations are myths that have created bogeys in the Malay psyche, allowing manipulators from within their leadership fold to obtain their selfish ends at the expense of the Malay commonweal.

Discovery of this larceny, committed in certain instances on a grandiose scale, may yet lead to the dawning of consciousness among the Malays of Pogo’s realisation that the enemy is more often within than without.

In the event, DAP would see that their decision to partner Umno in the unity government was a step towards removal of myths in the Malay mind they could not dispel by the assertion of fact and the pleas of reason. – FREE MALAYSIA TODAY

FREE MALAYSIA TODAY