There is no free lunch in politics: BN, especially MCA and MIC, should be careful when drawing from Hadi’s vote banks — Phar Kim Beng

 

Politics is often compared to commerce, but perhaps it is closer to banking. Every political investment expects a return. Every deposit anticipates a withdrawal. 

That is why Barisan Nasional (BN) should think carefully before drawing from what may be described as “Hadi’s vote banks” in Johor and now Negeri Sembilan. 

This is especially true for MCA and MIC. Two parties with no leverage on PAS at all.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in politics.

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has openly stated that PAS supporters helped strengthen BN’s electoral performance in Johor. 

The message was clear: PAS was not merely contesting elections for itself but was willing to transfer votes where it believed doing so served a larger political objective. 

Come August 1, Negeri Sembilan appears to be the next testing ground for that strategy.

The immediate temptation for BN is understandable. 

Elections are won by numbers, and any additional votes can determine whether a marginal seat is retained or lost. 

Yet the real issue is not today’s arithmetic but tomorrow’s political accounting. Every coalition rests upon its own identity. 

BN has historically presented itself as a broad-based coalition balancing the interests of Malays, Chinese, Indians and the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak. 

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has openly stated that PAS supporters helped strengthen BN’s electoral performance in Johor. — Bernama pic

PAS, by contrast, is organised around a different ideological vision and political philosophy.

While electoral cooperation may produce tactical gains, it also risks creating strategic ambiguity about where BN ultimately stands.

Political support is rarely unconditional. Every vote transferred today may generate expectations tomorrow. 

Those expectations may involve future electoral cooperation, negotiations over seat allocations, campaign priorities or broader policy influence. 

Such expectations are neither unusual nor illegitimate; they are simply how politics works.

Johor may therefore prove less significant as an isolated election than as the beginning of a broader political experiment. 

Negeri Sembilan now becomes the laboratory in which both parties will assess whether cooperation can evolve into something more durable. 

If that experiment succeeds, similar arrangements may be proposed elsewhere, including Malacca and eventually the next general election.

For BN, this creates a strategic dilemma. Short-term electoral gains can sometimes produce long-term political dependence. 

Once a coalition becomes accustomed to external vote transfers, disentangling itself from those arrangements becomes progressively more difficult. Political habits, like financial obligations, accumulate over time.

There is another dimension that deserves attention. 

BN’s traditional supporters may not necessarily interpret such cooperation in the same way as party elites. 

Some may welcome broader opposition to Pakatan Harapan. Others may worry that BN’s independent identity is gradually being diluted. 

Maintaining grassroots confidence will therefore require far more than winning additional seats; it will require explaining where the coalition ultimately intends to go.

None of this suggests that parties cannot cooperate. Democratic politics has always involved negotiation, compromise and tactical alliances. 

The real question is whether tactical cooperation gradually becomes strategic dependency without sufficient public debate or internal consensus.

Negeri Sembilan thus carries significance beyond its borders. The state election is not simply about who forms the next state government. 

It is also about whether Malaysia is witnessing the emergence of a new electoral formula whose consequences will reverberate across the federation.

There is an old saying in economics: there is no free lunch. Politics is no different. 

Every favour creates an expectation. Every alliance carries obligations. Every political deposit eventually comes due.

BN should therefore ask itself one fundamental question before drawing further from Hadi’s vote banks: when the time comes to repay that political debt, will the price still seem worthwhile?

For in politics, as in banking, the easiest credit often turns out to be the most expensive loan. That’s the risk of taking from “Tabung Hadi”. - malaymail

* Phar Kim Beng is a professor of Asean Studies and a director at the Institute of International and Asean Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.