Bersatu suffers 3rd electoral wipeout in a row

 The party led by Muhyiddin Yassin drew a blank in Negeri Sembilan after contesting 24 seats under its own banner.

Bersatu’s wipeout in the Negeri Sembilan state election comes just three weeks after the party led by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin suffered a similar outcome in the Johor polls.

PETALING JAYA:

Bersatu appears to have suffered a third election wipeout in a row after losing all its 24 contests in the Negeri Sembilan polls, following similar outcomes in Johor and Sabah.

The party led by Muhyiddin Yassin had contested two-thirds of the state assembly seats, after breaking ranks with the PAS-led Perikatan Nasional, which entered an electoral understanding with Barisan Nasional.

In doing so, Bersatu set up eight clashes with fellow PN members PAS and Parti Wawasan Negara, but avoided clashing with other PN-linked parties Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party.

Unofficial results showed Bersatu lost its two existing seats, Labu and Gemas, to BN and PN respectively.

Bersatu also failed to make significant inroads in seats such as Sikamat, Temiang, Rahang and Seremban Jaya, where its candidates were trailing far behind and seem likely to lose their deposits.

Before the election, political observers had expected Bersatu’s entry to split Malay votes in marginal seats and give Pakatan Harapan the edge, but this did not materialise as its candidates barely chipped away at BN-PN’s majorities.

The poor showing would mark a major setback for Bersatu, which had sought to demonstrate its electoral strength after PAS opted to work with BN in the state election. - FMT