Federal power ‘a daydream’ for PAS without non-Malay votes, says analyst

 

PAS won a party record of 43 parliamentary seats in GE15, primarily in constituencies with Malay majorities. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: An analyst has urged PAS not to get carried away by its success in capturing the Malay vote, saying the Islamic party should instead reflect on how its lack of support from non-Malays is keeping it from its goal of capturing Putrajaya.

Speaking to FMT, Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara acknowledged that PAS leads the state governments in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis.

However, he said the party’s main goal should be to win power at the federal level.

Without the support of the non-Malays, including those in Sabah and Sarawak, he said, any hope PAS had of governing the country might remain a “daydream”.

“Perikatan Nasional (PN) is in a bad state (due to non-Malay support), even worse than Umno,” he said.

“It is quite difficult for PAS to administer other states (or Putrajaya) because of the mixed voter composition between Malays and non-Malays.”

Azmi added that Bersatu, PAS’s partner in PN, had bigger aspirations than forming state governments.

“PAS is said to be satisfied with administering four states, but not Bersatu – because Bersatu wants to be in the federal government,” he said.

Azmi was commenting on the statement by PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari that the Malays could start deciding who to support in the next general election (GE16) after Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi hinted that the cooperation between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) would continue beyond GE16.

PAS won a party record of 43 parliamentary seats in GE15, primarily in constituencies with Malay majorities.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Kartini Aboo Talib agreed with Azmi, saying PAS should not focus too much on Bumiputera voters.

“It will be difficult to win (seats) if they only have Malay votes, especially in urban areas,” she said.

“To stay in power, PH-BN only need to prove that they are serious about elevating the Bumiputera agenda.”

In October last year, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said PAS must work on winning over non-Malay and non-Muslim voters in GE16 after having secured support from the majority of Malays.

Describing this as an “important and challenging” responsibility, Hadi said it was crucial for the party and PN to form the federal government at the polls. - FMT