PAKATAN Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) must sort out their differences if they are to convince voters of their co-operation ahead of the state elections, political experts said.

They said that dissatisfied voters could reject the uneasy alliance or may abstain from casting their ballot if outstanding issues are not ironed out, which will hand rivals Perikatan Nasional (PN) the advantage in the state polls.

Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said PH and BN’s new union is still “rickety” despite working together at federal level.

“I see it is still loose,” Hisommudin told The Malaysian Insight.

He said the unfavourable comments from Pasir Gudang PKR MP Hassan Abdul Karim and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy of DAP towards Umno and its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi could jeopardise the situation.

He pointed to Umno Supreme Council member Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who said the unity government is not a “concrete bridge”.

“As Shabery said, the collaboration is like an iron bridge that uses a lot of screws instead of being a concrete bridge.  

“This is an uneasy situation when DAP and PKR leaders make statements attacking the Umno leadership.

“Ramasamy and Hassan are among those who are attacking Umno openly,” he said.

Last week, Shabery reprimanded the PH leaders attacking the unity government.

Hisommudin said it was difficult for PH to discipline these leaders, and claimed that it was similar unwanted statements that had upset Malays during PH’s 22-month administration after the 2018 general election.

Meanwhile, he said, to date, neither the PH presidential council nor the Umno Supreme Council have made a decision on how these two coalitions will face the state elections.

“Therefore, if both the coalitions fail to manage their differences of opinion well, then I’m afraid that their grassroots will find it difficult to co-operate in the campaigns,” he added.

Hisommudin said if nothing is done, then it could give PN an advantage in all six states.

Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu decided not to dissolve their assemblies in conjunction with the general election last November.

However, they will need to call elections by September.

Only Pahang, Perak, and Perlis went to the polls two months ago to elect state governments. Sabah, Malacca, Johor, and Sarawak had held state polls within a year prior to the general election.  

Earlier, Sany Hamzan, an Amanah central leadership committee member, reportedly said that PH would defend all the 40 seats in Selangor it won in 2018, despite PH and BN now aligning in the federal government.

Although PH and BN have forged a working relationship at federal level following the general election, which had no clear winner, some grassroots party members in both camps seem to be dissatisfied with the new arrangement.

Dissatisfied BN members

“While I don’t see much problem for PH voters to vote for BN, the reverse could not be said,” International Islamic University of Malaysia’s political science assistant professor Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said.

According to Tunku Mohar, the recently concluded Umno general assembly, which decided not to allow any ballot for its top two posts, could also have an impact.

He said that loyal BN voters would heed leadership calls to vote for PH-BN but claimed the sentiment may not be the same for the others.

“Some disgruntled BN voters – such as Malays who see PN as a better champion and some Chinese voters who dislike DAP – may end up voting for other parties or simply abstain,” he said.

However, said that the state elections would give a better understanding of whether the new arrangement between BN and PH is benefiting both coalitions.

Prime Minister and PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim recently said that the coalition has yet to officially hold talks with BN on how the coalitions would approach the polls and whether there would be a division of seats. – January 27, 2023.