POLITICIANS and analysts do not see Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) having an impact on the general election.

They said the newly established coalition has no sway over Malay voters as it is new and does not have a network on the ground.

Another race-based coalition will not necessarily appeal to Malay voters, they said.

Amanah communications director Khalid Abdul Samad said the main priority should be to ensure the defeat of Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional.

“There are going to be multi-cornered fights. I believe that any effort to take away votes from BN and PN is helpful, but it will not be useful if those votes do not come to a united opposition,” the Shah Alam MP told The Malaysian Insight.

The Shah Alam MP said while it is well and good to try to win the Malay votes, another race-based coalition is not going to help to defeat BN and PN.

Last week, Pejuang chairman Dr Mahathir announced the establishment of GTA to target Malay and Muslim voters fed up with Umno’s brand of politics.

The former prime minister said the coalition is made up of Pejuang, National Indian Muslim Alliance Party (Iman), Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) and Parti Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa).

The Langkawi MP said the movement is not racist but banded together for the sake of ousting the “deviant Malay party that is Umno”.

He said the coalition will stand in all 120 constituencies with a Malay majority in the general election.

Khalid said GTA is welcome to compete with Amanah for the same seats as the latter is confident of its voter support.

“We will not lose our voters but we may not get new votes. We are more concerned about the fence-sitters.”

No need for race-based coalition

Muda information chief Luqman Long said Malaysians do not want a race-based opposition coalition.

“We have to celebrate multi-racialism,” he said.

“I believe voters are looking for much more than race, (they are looking at) the credibility of candidates and policies and the issues the people are facing.

Luqman said the way to get through to the voters is not through race but policies that will improve the lives of the people.

“In the last election, we fielded non-Malay candidates who could fight for the people.”

On whether GTA would have an impact on the general election, he said politicians must know the issues faced by the people.

“It is more about policies and getting the people out to vote. The challenge is to introduce policies that will bring benefits for the people, such as education and jobs.

“Muda’s main aim to policies is because we have a huge number of fence-sitters in the coming election.

“Hardcore supporters will vote, but what really matters are the fence-sitters.”

International Islamic University of Malaysia’s Dr Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said it is difficult to to foresee GTA getting much traction in GE15.

“The (coalition) parties are small, and most of them are regionalised. They lack national appeal.

“Based on their electoral performance so far, it is difficult to predict that any one of them will win any seat in the next GE.”

Tunku Mohar said for the Malays to support the coalition, they must be assured that not only can its address their needs, it must also be able to govern the country if it comes into power.

“Currently, the coalition does not show a strong team that can do this.

“Pejuang did not have strong and capable leaders in the Johor and Malacca polls. It’s only appeal centres around Dr Mahathir.”

He said it will be interesting to see how Pejuang leaders Dr Mahathir, Mukhriz Mahathir and Amiruddin Hamzah fare in the election.

“Beyond these, the other Pejuang figures are not well known.”

University of Tasmania political analyst James Chin said Dr Mahathir incepted a new coalition because his party is weak, predicting that the latter “will be totally wiped out” in GE15.

“So it needs to be in a coalition since it is not likely that Pakatan Harapan will pay any attention to him,” said Chin.

Although Dr Mahathir still exerts a considerable influence over Malays in rural areas, Pejuang as a party does not, he said.

“The most it can win is one or two seats.

“The Malay community has made it clear that although they still respect Dr Mahathir, they will not support his party.

Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said GTA will have no impact.

“For Dr Mahathir, the majority race in this country is of paramount importance and he has his ideas of how Malays should progress.

“His view is that Umno was not the platform to do so because the party has become corrupted.

“To what extent Dr Mahathir can achieve his aim is yet to be seen.” – August 10, 2022.