Unite and you can win Johor polls, pundit tells opposition

 

Pakatan Harapan lost badly in the recent Melaka and Sarawak elections because of division within its component parties, says analyst Azmi Hassan.

PETALING JAYA: The opposition can win the Johor elections if they unite to take down Barisan Nasional, say analysts and a think tank, with one academic attributing Pakatan Harapan’s losses in recent polls to division among the component parties.

Akademi Nusantara senior fellow for strategic research Azmi Hassan said the only reason that BN and Umno remained strong was because “PH is weak”.

“But if PH, Muda, Pejuang and Warisan were to join hands, they will be a force to be reckoned with,” he told FMT.

Azmi said by joining forces, the opposition would be able to boast a bigger machinery and avoid multi-cornered fights, which cost them in Melaka and Sarawak.

Azmi Hassan.

He said unlike the Melaka polls in November, where Amanah’s machinery “went on its own” and DAP and PKR did not work together, the situation in Johor was different.

PH’s component machineries in Johor, he said, were more likely to work together.

“If smaller parties unite with PH, BN may have a tough time securing a majority,” he said.

However, Hisommudin Bakar, executive director of Ilham Centre, a think tank centred around political and policy issues, said PH and Perikatan Nasional may not retain the seats they won in GE14 because they were now “weaker than BN”.

He noted that during GE14, PH had contested under one logo and campaigned on issues that mattered to the people, such as cost of living and corruption.

He also said Umno had the upper hand in Johor as it was the birthplace of the biggest Malay party, which lost the state to PH in GE14.

Hisommudin Bakar.

The presence of other non-PH opposition parties, such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pejuang, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s Muda and Sabah-based Warisan, which recently spread its wings to the peninsula, would split the votes, Hisommudin said.

“Urban voters will be divided between PH and these smaller opposition parties,” he said.

Pejuang, which said it would contest in 42 of the 56 state seats, may go for the same seats that Umno and Bersatu were eyeing, he said, adding that the polls may see multi-cornered fights among the opposition and BN.

Socio-political analyst Awang Azman Pawi said PH was “ill-prepared” to face another election.

Awang Azman Pawi.

He advised the opposition to avoid three-cornered fights as it would split voters further, causing BN to win a bigger majority.

“If they do not unite, it may be the end of them in Johor as seen in Melaka and Sarawak,” he said.

The Election Commission will meet on Feb 9 to set the date for the Johor elections.

The state will see 750,000 new voters, bringing the total to 2.5 million compared to 1.8 million in the 2018 polls. - FMT