Long way to go to recapture Malay vote, Tok Mat says after Kemaman loss

 

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan says certain aspects in the party, including its strategy and work ethics, need to be looked into if it wants to regain the trust of the Malay community. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan says the party still has a long way to go in recapturing the Malay vote, following Barisan Nasional’s defeat in the Kemaman by-election on Saturday.

The ability to sway Malay voters back into its fold was among the five “takeaways” from the outcome of the by-election, Mohamad said in a Facebook post.

He said despite fielding a candidate with an excellent service record in Raja Affandi Raja Noor – a former chief of defence forces – the party still lost, proving that its mission to win back the Malays was an uphill task.

Mohamad, better known as Tok Mat, said the results show that Umno has to be “resilient” when it comes to Malay politics, as it is now more “dynamic”.

Umno, therefore, needs to look into certain aspects in the party, including its strategy and work ethics, if it wants to regain the trust of the Malay community.

“The real test in all of this is one of endurance. Umno will not easily surrender, let alone think that it could no longer regain the support of the Malays,” he said.

Moreover, Mohamad said the results also showed that Umno had failed to “resonate” with young voters, who continue to distance themselves from the party.

He said the by-election outcome also taught the party that balancing racial politics and religion was difficult and complex.

“It is not easy to present a moderate political path. Extreme right-wing ideologies, as well as racial and religious rhetoric, are all very easy to exploit to gain popularity.

“Umno must not deviate from its moderate stance. It is an important stronghold for a multicultural and multi-religious Malaysia.”

Last Saturday’s by-election was another setback for the party since its mauling in the 15th general election in 2022 and a woeful performance during state elections in August, which saw the party completely wiped out in Terengganu.

On Saturday, PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar was elected Kemaman MP by a 37,220-vote majority, defeating Barisan Nasional’s Raja Affandi Raja Noor and increasing PAS’s margin in the constituency by more than 10,000 votes.

PAS chose to field Samsuri after an election court annulled the 2022 general election result and disqualified Che Alias Hamid, finding that the state government had attempted to induce voters. - FMT