A WEEK into election mode, and despite pushing for a general election to be held this year, Barisan Nasional (BN) appears unprepared for the campaign, political observers have said.

They told The Malaysian Insight that BN’s approach this time is not as rigorous as it has been in the past, with its usual exuberance overtaken by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN).

BN candidates have been drawing comparatively smaller crowds to their ceramah, and is similarly lagging behind PN and PH in its social media presence.

Umno president and BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was responsible for pressuring Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob into sending the country to the polls this year, despite widespread resistance from opposition and BN camps.

However, despite their reticence, PN and PH are capturing the public’s attention, as well as winning the flag war, observers noted.

Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said PN is the early pacemaker, followed by PH.

“Based on our observation, PN is leading the campaign followed by PH.

“PN has its flags and banners everywhere and PH is not too far behind.”

“I am not sure why BN is trailing. They are the ones who set up the agenda but after the nomination, they are behind.”

Hisommudin said that this may be due to lack of funds.

“The cost for logistics is high. Maybe they do not have enough funds to distribute,” he added.

Hisommudin said PN and PH are also out in front in terms of engaging with voters through their night ceramah and online campaign.

“Social media posts, if you look at it, is PN and PH. Similarly for online ceramah on Facebook live. These two coalitions are active but not BN,” he said.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Mazlan Ali said PH and PN have already been well-received by voters, while BN has yet to get good feedback.

The academic said he is now in Johor, where PH and PN are in front in terms of reaching out to the voters.

“PH’s ceramah are very well received, its banners and flags can be seen everywhere.

“PN is also doing a good job but it can’t match PH’s ceramah audiences.

“BN is behind, it has flags and so on, but still can’t draw crowds to its events,” he said.

BN using different methods to reach out voters

However, for Universiti Malaya Prof Awang Azman Awang Pawi, BN is using a different technique to reach voters.

He said BN is using its polling centres to hold small-scale ceramah.

“PH and PN do not have as many supporters as BN but they are able to draw large crowds due to the issues that they spoke about.”

“BN cannot draw a crowd from non-members, so prefers to do small scale events in its own territory,” he said.

The senior academic said PN and PH are more or less equal in terms of flags and posters.

Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research fellow Azmi Hassan said PH is leading the publicity race.

Meanwhile, he said other parties like Pejuang, Warisan and Parti Bangsa Malaysia just cannot keep up with the three main coalitions.

“PH is in front followed by BN and PN is slightly behind. In Gombak for instance where I am staying, BN is slightly in front of PN. PH is in front because it has big names to use in its ceramah.

“People come to hear from these politicians because they are good orators. Pejuang (GTA) does not,” he said.

BN airing dirty linen in public

Badrul Hisham Ismail of Iman Research said BN cannot keep up with PH and PN because of its failure to address internal rifts, not least the uncertainty on its nomination for prime minister.

Badrul agreed that PH and PN are doing well in terms of attracting the crowds.

“As days go by, there are many people who are angry with BN.

“The MCA is being blamed for the LRT disruption because the minister is from that party.

“BN is now receiving a lot of criticism on social media due to the floods.

“Meanwhile, its own internal problem is not solved. Noh Omar is not in Tanjung Karang, Khairy Jamaluddin is still making noise about his seat and is still fighting with Zahid openly.

“Zahid has a yet to provide a satisfactory explanation about his alleged statutory declaration of becoming prime minister.

“Other parties have moved forward but BN is still bickering. That is why I think BN is behind PH and PN,” Badrul said.

However, he added that the election atmosphere is not as exciting as it used to be.

“Usually a week before it ends, the situation is filled with excitement. Maybe the rain is an obstacle and the risk of floods.

“Let’s see how the campaign will be like come this Saturday and Sunday. If the crowd is big it can be used as an indicator to see which party is getting the attention from voters,” he added. – November 12, 2022.