Gerakan’s ‘1+2 seats’ goal realistic only in Malay-majority areas, says analyst

 

Gerakan president Dominic Lau said the party will establish its election machinery immediately as it works towards realising its target of 1+2 seats per state.

PETALING JAYA: 

Gerakan can only achieve its target of securing at least one parliamentary seat and two state assembly seats in each state at the next general election if it contests Malay-majority constituencies that are PAS or Bersatu strongholds, says a political analyst.

Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, formerly of BowerGroupAsia, said Gerakan’s goal is unrealistic unless PAS and Bersatu are prepared to concede some of their seats in Perikatan Nasional-ruled states to the party.

PN currently governs four states – Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis.

Gerakan will struggle to achieve its target unless PAS and Bersatu are willing to give up their seats in rural or semi-urban areas where 50% or more of the electorate are Malay,

 he told FMT.

Asrul also said Gerakan’s attempt to remain relevant by joining PN has only further distanced the party from its core Chinese supporters.

He noted that Gerakan holds little influence even in PN-governed states, adding that other component parties view it as a 

necessary annoyance

 whose presence is needed to help the coalition uphold its multicultural image.

Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said Gerakan’s best chance of success would be to persuade PAS to 

vigorously campaign

 for the party, allowing PN to strengthen its image as a multiracial coalition.

It all depends on what PAS’s next moves are since few to no non-Malays are going to vote for Gerakan as long as it associates itself with the Islamic party,

 he said.

University of Tasmania’s James Chin said Gerakan has no chance of winning over the Chinese community as the party’s leaders are seen as having 

sold out to Malay supremacist groups

 as long as they align themselves with PAS.

As long as Gerakan remains in PN and PAS continues to make (racially provocative) statements, I don’t see how the party can secure the confidence of the Chinese community,

 he said.

Last week, Gerakan president Dominic Lau announced the party aims to win at least one parliamentary seat and two state assembly seats in each state at the next general election.

He said the party will establish its election machinery immediately as it works towards realising its target, adding that potential candidates have already been told to go to the ground to meet voters.

Gerakan won only one of the 14 state assembly seats and none of the 20 parliamentary seats it contested in the 2022 general election.

The party faced another devastating defeat in the state elections last year when it lost all but one of the 36 seats it contested in Kedah, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang.

Wong Chia Zhen won the Kulim seat in Kedah, which is a Malay-majority seat. Lau lost the Bayan Lepas state seat in Penang after losing to Pakatan Harapan’s Azrul Mahathir Aziz by 1,889 votes. - FMT