Survey: Umno still the most popular

Umno is also dominant in Kelantan, acquiring 49.8% of the total votes as opposed to PAS' 41.1%, says a survey conducted by a Malay daily.

PETALING JAYA: Umno remains the most dominant political party in almost all states including Kelantan, with the exception of Selangor, Penang and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, according to Malay daily Sinar Harian’s post-13th general election (GE13) survey.

“Altogether, Umno managed to garner 3,416,310 votes and won 88 parliamentary seats out of the 120 it contested, with DAP coming in second due to winning 38 seats out of the 51 seats it contested.

“Although PKR and PAS had more popularity votes at 2,033,677 and 1,579,833 respectively, PKR only managed to win 30 seats out of the 99 seats it contested while PAS only managed to win 21 seats out of the 73 parliamentary seats,” said the Malay daily.

Also, Malay voters were the determiners for Umno’s win in GE13, thus giving Barisan Nasional (BN) the upper hand in winning the majority in Parliament and taking control of the federal government even though BN attained less seats as compared to the previous elections.

Azmi Hassan from the Geoinformation and Real Estate faculty of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) said that Umno was dominant in acquiring popularity votes compared to other parties due to the shifting of Malay voters’ support to the BN coalition.

“It is also to be noted how in Kelantan, Umno managed to acquire 49.8% of votes as opposed to PAS which acquired only 41.1% of the total votes.

“In Kedah, Umno took over the reins from PAS by acquiring 45.28% of the total votes. Perlis also remains Umno’s stronghold with the party winning all three parliamentary seats it contested with 55.55% from the total votes,” said Sinar Harian.

Umno continues to be dominant in Perak when it obtained 24.64% of the total votes ahead of the other parties.

Umno also dominated other parties in Pahang by winning 55.5% of votes and winning 10 parliamentary seats it contested in GE13.

Although PKR continues to dominate by managing to win nine out of the 11 seats it contested in Selangor with a total vote-count of 550,950, Umno’s influence, however, cannot be denied as the party managed to attain 335,406 votes as opposed to PAS’ 270,506 and DAP’s 253,302 respectively, according to the survey.

In Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor, Umno’s influence is still formidable, leading other parties with votes accounting to more than 40% at each state.

Sabah, on the other hand, continues to be Umno’s gem with the party dominating with 88.2% of votes.

To remain dominant

Meanwhile, Azizuddin Mohd Sani from Universiti Utara Malaysia’s (UUM) College of Law, Government and International Studies said that Umno is predicted to continue dominating as compared to other BN component parties in the 14th general election (GE14).

“There’s a possibility for Umno to be more dominant and attain more seats in GE14. This is because other component parties such as MCA have problems in getting votes,” he said.

However, Sivamurugan Pandian from Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) School of Social Sciences said that BN cannot depend on Umno solely to secure votes in GE14.

“Although Umno achieved praiseworthy results in GE13, there cannot be dominance in GE14.

“This is because, if Umno were to contest for too many seats, BN will no longer be a coalition of parties which need each other’s support,” he said.