Ilham: BN supporters deserting, but Zahid's ouster won't help

 

A significant number of traditional BN supporters have either abstained or defected from voting for the coalition due to dissatisfaction over their leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, according to think tank Ilham Centre.

However, according to Ilham’s research fellow Mujibu Abd Muis, Zahid's ouster will unlikely turn the tide because systemic problems within Umno would require major overhauls.

“Perhaps, (Zahid resigning from his position) may be seen as a short-term solution to bring confidence and give the perception that Umno would change and respond to its defeat.

“...But will it solve Umno’s issues in the long run? No. Because Umno’s issues are systemic and begin from the top to the bottom. And the grassroots wants change in Umno on a grand scale and not just its leadership.

“This involves Umno’s direction and philosophy to be compatible with the times. Given the present situation, the best way to recover Umno is to start with its grassroots that have already lost confidence in the party,” he said during a question-and-answer session today.

Mujibu was speaking at Ilham Centre’s forum today titled 'The six state elections: What happened?' which was also attended by the think tank’s executive director Hisomudin Bakar and lead researcher Mohd Yusri Ibrahim.

Calls for Zahid to step down followed the coalition’s dismal performance at the state polls, having secured only 19 state seats out of the 108 it contested in Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Penang, and Kelantan, with no victories in Terengganu and Kedah.

Ilham’s recent poll shed light on BN and Umno voters also abstaining and defecting to Perikatan Nasional due to the party’s cooperation with DAP and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Umno’s internal elections which allegedly contained the element of sabotage.

Hisomudin, who presented the survey’s report, also said that BN and Umno suffered a loss in support from Malay youth voters, Felda settlers and traditional Malay kampung and civil servants.

Elaborating on civil servants now choosing to vote for PN over the government of the day, Hisomudin said that they faced difficulty in “changing regimes”

“Based on our interviews, most of the civil servants are trapped in the administration helmed by (former premier) Muhyiddin Yassin and have not (defected) to the unity government.

“What’s interesting is that teachers used to openly support BN-Umno, and have now switched to PN and PAS. In our interviews, they even admitted that they liked (current) Education Minister (Fadhlina Sidek) but still chose to support PN,” he said.

Ilham’s survey encompassed 2,416 respondents in its first series, conducted from July 11 to 27 and 2,304 respondents in its final phase from July 29 to Aug 8 across all six states.

Some 16.5 percent of survey respondents voted in Negeri Sembilan, 16.7 percent (Selangor), 16,6 percent (Terengganu), 16.6 percent (Kelantan), 16.6 percent (Penang) and 17.1 percent (Kedah).

The survey involved respondents across various age groups with 11 percent aged 18-20, 22 percent aged 21-29, 21 percent aged 30-39, 18 percent aged 40-49, 16 percent within the 50-59 bracket, and 13 percent aged 60 and above.

The survey also indicated that Anwar had an approval rate of 42 percent among respondents from the six states.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar’s highest support reportedly comes from the Chinese community who gave the prime minister an approval rating of 88 percent followed by ethnic Indians at 81 percent and other ethnic groups at 75 percent.

However, the Malays only gave the Pakatan Harapan chairperson a 24 percent approval rating.

Meanwhile, when asked about the expectation of the upcoming Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections, Yusri said that while it was a Harapan stronghold, the polling outcome would heavily rely on voter turnout.

“If the voter turnout is similar to the recent state elections, PN would be charming the Malay voters and a small percent of non-Malay voters. So (the election outcome) goes back to the element of non-Malay voter turnout,” he said, adding that it is also dependent on how much support Umno is able to provide to the Harapan coalition. - Mkini