Another huge PAS, UMNO cooperation expected in the coming Negeri Sembilan state election

 

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has claimed that his party is in talks with UMNO over the Negeri Sembilan state election, ahead of the official campaign period which begins this Saturday.

Speaking at a press conference in Negeri Sembilan last night, Hadi said PAS is prepared to give way to UMNO in the 14 seats it currently holds, with discussions focused on the allocation of the 17 seats presently held by PH.

The Marang MP added that the two seats held by Bersatu could also be part of the negotiations.

“The objective is for the Malay-Muslim community to govern Negeri Sembilan,” he said, adding that PAS would have no objection if UMNO were to hold the Menteri Besar’s post.

PAS had previously backed UMNO Negeri Sembilan’s attempt to form a new state government after UMNO withdrew its support for the PH-led state administration.

Although BN did not contest every seat in the 2023 Negeri Sembilan state election, the combined vote share of BN and PN stood at 59.9%.

If the current negotiations between PAS and UMNO are indeed taking place, they could significantly strengthen BN and pave the way for an anti-PH wave similar to that seen in the recently concluded Johor state election.

On another note, turnout and vote share data from the recently concluded Johor state election suggest that a substantial number of voters who had previously supported PH chose not to cast their ballots last Saturday.

While early analysis indicated that PH’s vote share had improved compared with the previous state election, a more meaningful comparison should be made against GE15.

Voter turnout in last Saturday’s election reached 69.6%, compared with 75.5% in the November 2022 general election and 54.9% in the March 2022 Johor state election.

In absolute terms, 1.89 mil Johoreans cast their ballots last Saturday, 78,000 fewer than in GE15.

However, despite turnout being close to the level recorded during the last general election, PH’s vote share failed to match its previous performance.

The coalition secured 32.6% of the vote, representing a decline of 9.7 percentage points, or approximately 213,200 votes, compared with GE15, a drop far greater than the reduction in overall voter turnout.

This reinforces the perception that dissatisfaction among PH supporters is growing, particularly among non-Malay voters.

Perhaps, BN’s monumental victory cannot be attributed to  its cooperation with PAS alone, but due to other factors that PH needs to address, and quickly.— Focus Malaysia