Stop blame game, focus on issues or risk losing more ground, analysts tell Pakatan

Timothy Achariam Timothy Achariam Updated 7 years ago · Published on 3 Mar 2019 7:00PM · 10 Comments

A Pakatan Harapan campaign banner put up by a road in Semenyih, Selangor on February 20. Analysts have urged PH to move on from the past government's wrongdoing. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Nazir Sufari, March 3, 2019.

PAKATAN Harapan must take its defeat in yesterday’s Semenyih by-election as a serious protest by voters, who are increasingly dissatisfied with the ruling coalition’s failure to address the people’s concerns over their rights and the economy, said analysts.

“This is a wake-up call for them, they need to take this seriously.

“They failed to lead the country, instead, they are harping on what the previous government did,” said political analyst Associate Professor Dr Jeniri Amir of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

“Enough is enough, they’ve been in power for 10 months. They should be focusing on the people and not pointing fingers.”

Jeniri said Putrajaya should stop raising the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, and should instead show how it is dealing with the economy and other issues affecting the people.

“Forget 1MDB and move forward.”

He said one of the main reasons PH lost was because Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not focus on the issues affecting the Malays in the country and in Semenyih.

“Dr Mahathir should have focused on tackling problems on the ground, especially (among) Malays and Muslims voters there.

“They didn’t address the problem of the Malays there and also the national problems of the Malays,” he said.

Political analyst professor James Chin said the Semenyih by-election was the ruling coalition’s second defeat after Cameron Highlands in January, and signalled that it has lost the Malay vote.

“This is big trouble for PH and Bersatu, they appear to have lost the Malay vote,” said Chin.

“It is also a sign that the Umno-PAS pact, using Islam and Malay rights, appears to be working.

“PAS and Umno are basically selling the idea that Malays are no longer in control, and the Malay voters appear to agree,” he said.

He said if PH loses the upcoming by-election in Rantau, Negeri Sembilan, then heads in the cabinet must roll.

“If they lose in Rantau, drastic measures need to be taken, including a cabinet reshuffle,” said Chin.

“The current PH cabinet is not working properly, they simply cannot afford to lose Rantau.”

An election court declared the Rantau state seat vacant after it nullified the victory of Mohamad Hasan from Umno.

Mohamad is Umno acting president and former Negri Sembilan menteri besar. He won Rantau uncotested in the 14th general election when the returning officer barred PH candidate from entering the nomination centre without a pass.

Umno acting president Mohamad Hasan giving a thumbs up after announcing the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Semenyih by-election on February 14. He has been vacated from his seat in Rantau, paving the way for another by-election. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, March 3, 2019.

Independent political analyst Khoo Kay Peng also said PH was failing to address the socio-economic issues of the lower and middle classes.

He said the coalition is not delivering on the promises made to its core supporters.

“People expect continued subsidies. Petrol prices among them. They first said that it would be set price, now they have floated it. This is one among many other backtracking promises they made,” said Khoo.

He said Dr Mahathir’s assessment that the loss in Semenyih was because of the use of religious sentiments was a denial of the reality that PH was falling out of favour with voters.

“They’ve been doing this every elections (playing up racial sentiments). It’s always been the case. This is a denial on Dr Mahathir’s part,” he said.

In yesterday’s by-election, BN candidate Zakaria Hanafi won the four-cornered contest with a majority of 1,914 votes to wrest control of the Semenyih state seat, beating PH candidate Muhammad Aiman Zainali.

The by-election was called after the death of the previous assemblyman, PH’s Mohd Bakhtiar Mohd Nor, of a heart attack on January 11. – March 3, 2019.

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Comments

  • Saying is easy. So called analyst

    Posted 7 years ago by SY L · Reply

  • Analyst Kangkong,they say they are better than Tun M.The reasons given by Tun are correct.PH need to come out with new strategy to fight the gang up of crooks Umno and Pas.

    Posted 7 years ago by Soma Govin · Reply

  • Most Analysts are armchair critics. Very easy for them to criticise and giving not workable solutions. Just let Dr Mahathir to discuss with leaders of PH and come out with a strong strategy to fight those racist and crooks Umno and PAS Leaders.

    Posted 7 years ago by Jordan Lee · Reply

    • Agreed..these analysts think they are very clever.

      Posted 7 years ago by Lipdah Lia · Reply

  • The only way BN-PAS can win is by playing toxic politics. In this sense, PH has not lost. The voters are unfortunately blind-folded.

    Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Reality bites isn't it.

    Posted 7 years ago by Teruna Kelana · Reply

  • The weakest chain in the link is the ordinary Malay and the obsession with self. He/she cannot be bothered about the economy, the monumental corruption under Najib or the fact that we would have been declared a bankrupt country if PH had not won. Being deluded into thinking they are superior, Islam is the best thing to happen in the universe while being bribed with petty cash overrides everything else.

    Posted 7 years ago by Simple Sulaiman · Reply

  • Stupid analysis. The thief stole so much and the bank is empty. How to fulfill promises? Some want handouts even if the thief took 95 and gave only 5 to them. Money is more important than integrity. How to overcome these shameless people? So PH will lose the upcoming battles but they have stopped the stealing, use the money for the needy n win the war in 2023. Thank God for May 9th. The stealing has stopped.

    Posted 7 years ago by Lipdah Lia · Reply

  • For over 60 years who put our Country and especially the Malays backwards? Low hiring opportunities due to bad education standards instituted by mostly Malays in power, low income (will remain low if attitudes do not change) subsituted by miserable handouts, promises of looking after their needs but being robbed instead, and yet they believed that its ok for politicians and/or religious leaders tell lies and do things that stripped our Country's resources. If the May 9 wake up call is ineffective, God bless our Country. The future generations will pay even a bigger price. Thanks go to their blind parents today.

    Posted 7 years ago by Concerned Citizen · Reply