Slim chance for Gerakan to compete in all 6 state elections, says analyst

 

Gerakan president Dominic Lau said his party hopes to feature in all six state elections.

PETALING JAYA: It will be difficult for PAS to give way to Gerakan, its Perikatan Nasional (PN) ally, in the two states it controls due to its predominantly Malay voter base in those areas, analysts say.

They say this will dash Gerakan’s hopes of contesting in all six state elections as part of a multiracial unit.

The PN leadership has decided that candidates in PAS-controlled Kelantan and Terengganu will compete using the PAS logo, while those in Kedah, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Penang will run under the coalition’s symbol.

Azmi Hassan from Akademi Nusantara said neither PAS nor Bersatu, the other party in PN, would want to lose the support of Malay voters by running a Gerakan candidate in a traditionally Malay seat that had been held previously by one of them.

He said Gerakan cannot be discouraged if it was not given seats in Malay-dominant states, comparing the party to MCA and MIC, which have both relied on the support of their larger Barisan Nasional (BN) partners to find success.

“There is not much Gerakan can offer in the three PN-controlled states. If it is given seats, it would have to be courtesy of PAS. But I don’t see that happening because seat distribution is supposedly already completed.

“Perhaps in the three Pakatan Harapan-controlled states, a Gerakan candidate can be fielded for a Chinese-majority seat, with PAS and Bersatu helping to bring them the support of Malay voters,” he told FMT.

Gerakan president Dominic Lau had earlier expressed his party’s hopes of running in all of the upcoming state elections, adding that it had sent 70 names to PN’s supreme council for consideration.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid from Universiti Sains Malaysia said Gerakan should be given the opportunity to contest in all states to bolster PN’s legitimacy as a coalition, which would go towards its future hopes of running the country.

“Maybe they can be considered in constituencies with a relatively large non-Malay population, like Alor Setar,” he said.

He said there should be a degree of reciprocity in politics, especially since PN have to rely on Gerakan to woo non-Malay voters in PH-led Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

“Without Gerakan, PN may risk losing out on the non-Malay voters that refuse to support PH or BN,” he said. - FMT