UMNO better not enrage the Chinese for the latter’s votes are vital for the party’s GE16 political survival

 

THERE is perhaps a need for UMNO not to ‘over-terrorise’ the feelings of the Chinese for the so-called Big Brother of Barisan Nasional (BN) may need to depend on Chinese votes for its own political survival come the 16th General Election (GE16).

With the party ‘almost rejected’ by Malay electorate who have either crossed over to the opposition coalition comprising Bersatu and PAS or are who are staunch supporter of PKR and Amanah, there is indeed very little that UMNO can expect from its partnership with Pakatan Harapan (PH).

“On the other hand, UMNO is faced with the possibility of suffering severe ‘injury’ in its own traditional turf which is ironically the Malay majority areas,” observed International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) political science lecturer Associate Prof Datuk Dr Marzuki Mohamed.

“UMNO’s position at that time can be likened to that of MCA’s during UMNO’s heyday. Just as MCA had to depend on the support of Malay voters for BN to win the election, so too would UMNO have to depend on the support of Chinese voters for the PH-BN alliance to win (in GE16).”

Marzuki who was previously the senior private secretary to eighth premier Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin further estimated that UMNO only has six safe seats in Peninsular Malaysia with the solid support of Chinese voters for GE16.

“In GE16, UMNO’s survival will depend on the number of seats that the party will contest in areas with a narrow Malay majority which are deemed safe seats for PH and its allies,” contended Marzuki who is currently a Bersatu member.

“Currently, out of the 20 narrow Malay majority seats in Peninsular Malaysia, only six seats are held by UMNO while 11 are held by PH and three seats by the opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.”

Earlier, Marzuki contended that UMNO-DAP electoral cooperation seems to be more beneficial to DAP given UMNO is faced with Malays’ rejection of the party’s cooperation with DAP.

“As UMNO has traditionally contested in Malay-majority seats, the rejection of UMNO by the Malays, including the 80% shift of the party’s support to PN, has dealt a severe injury to UMNO in Malay-majority seats,” justified the opposition-slant political analyst.

“As for the transfer of DAP’s Chinese voter support to UMNO, this, too, cannot save UMNO because the percentage of Chinese voters in these areas is small.”

Added Marzuki” “UMNO is only safe in areas where there is a large percentage of Chinese voters such as Dusun Tua in Selangor and in areas where there are staunch supporters of the party who are elderly such as in Negri Sembilan. Apart from these areas, UMNO’s position is very shaky.” –  Focus Malaysia