PH must face political realities, acknowledge shortcomings, say analysts

 Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Ahmad Sabri says the coalition has a tendency not to look into the mirror each time it is defeated at the polls.

Analyst Syaza Shukri said PH needs to listen once again to its grassroots, citing a ‘gap between the parties and supporters’.

PETALING JAYA:

Pakatan Harapan (PH) must learn to come to terms with the political realities and acknowledge its shortcomings, an analyst says following the coalition’s loss in the Negeri Sembilan election.

Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Ahmad Sabri.

Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Ahmad Sabri of Global Asia Consulting said PH had a tendency not to look into the mirror whenever it was defeated at the polls.

PH blamed its defeat on Saturday on the exploitation of identity politics by its rivals.

But Zaharuddin said such explanations had been recycled so often that they had “lost credibility”, adding that identity politics was not a new phenomenon.

“It has been part and parcel of Malaysia’s political landscape for decades.

“If PH fails to tailor its strategy to such a reality despite being in power for years, then the fault doesn’t lie with the voters but with the inability of the coalition’s leaders to understand the landscape,’ he told FMT.

PH election director Amirudin Shari said there had been much racial rhetoric leading up to the polls, which had led to unease among Malays and non-Malays.

However, Zaharuddin said PH seemed to be trapped in a bubble where it believed it could control narratives and win over voters through social media, despite the fact that elections were won on the ground and “not in the comment section”.

“Voters these days take into account the cost of living, job opportunities, economic stability and the government’s ability to resolve everyday problems. They don’t look at those who are busy playing the victim,” he said.

He said PH was now at a critical juncture: it could continue searching for scapegoats each time it lost an election, “or choose a more arduous but honest path”.

“Politics does not punish parties that lose, but those that fail to learn from defeat,” he said.

Syaza Shukri.

Syaza Shukri of International Islamic University Malaysia said while PH had trouble countering the racial narratives played up by the Barisan Nasional (BN)-Perikatan Nasional alliance, it should acknowledge its shortcomings.

She said PH’s machinery had yet to match that of BN despite the coalition administering the state for the last eight years.

She also said PH needed to listen once again to its grassroots, adding that there was a “gap between the parties and supporters”.

“Supporters want the reform agenda to be continued, but they do not feel that attention is being paid to such aspirations,” she said.

Syaza also said that PH’s campaign, which focused heavily on the state government’s achievements, was ineffective as the public felt they had not benefited from these. - FMT