PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) is confident of its chances to win Selangor and Negri Sembilan in the coming state polls after having made major inroads in their Malay-majority constituencies, said its leaders.

They said corruption cases against PN leaders won’t disrupt their plans to win these seats from Pakatan Harapan (PH).

They said they will be able to sustain the Malay support gained by PN during the last general election (GE) despite analysts warning this time is different.

Negri Sembilan PN information chief Khairul Yazman Yahya said the pact managed to win over 35% to 45% of voters during GE, and this will reflect in PN’s  favour in the coming state polls.

He said the support will increase due to people’s unhappiness with the hypocrisy shown by PH and Barisan Nasional (BN).

“I feel support will increase. The increase in votes will continue to happen for PN,” he said.

Negri Sembilan PN is aiming for a simple majority of 19 out of 36 seats in the state assembly.

There are 21 seats in the state whose Malay demographic make up more than 60% of the local populations.

PH currently controls 20 seats in the state while BN holds the remaining 16 seats won in the 2018 GE.

In last November’s GE, BN won five parliamentary seats in the state while three seats were won by PH. PN did not win any federal seats.

PN however performed better in Selangor by capturing the rural parliamentary seats of Sungai Besar, Sabak Bernam, Tanjung Karang, Hulu Selangor, Kapar and Kuala Langat.

Khairul said PN wants to kick off its campaign tour in Negri Sembilan immediately after the Aidilfitri celebrations.

Its target is 19 state assembly seats, including Gemas and Bagan Pinang.

“After Raya, we will start exploring the entire state again. We will choose the areas we have not entered yet, from the targeted 19 state seats.

“The programme will continue until voting day. It will not stop,” he said.

The tour is the second iteration of Semarak Gelombang Rakyat, which was initiated by PN for the first time in January and ended in March.

“We focus on areas with more than 50% Malay voters,” said Khairul.

He said the corruption cases against PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin and other leaders will be but a blip amid support for the coalition, dubbed the “green wave”.

He said this will positively affect support from people who see the corruption charges as a political act of revenge.

“From our study, the people see this as revenge politics (against PN).

“We feel that although it has a small effect, it does not have an overall effect,” he said.

Previously, PN leaders, including Muhyiddin Yassin, said it is possible for the pact to wrest Selangor from PH.

They said they are confident of winning 33 of the 56 state seats and defend the seven seats they hold.

BN eyes more Selangor seats

While PN leaders have expressed confidence in winning Selangor, BN meanwhile is set to enter tough discussions with its federal partner PH for more seats.

Selangor BN leader Johan Abdul Aziz said the coalition should not be sidelined in seat talks even though the party now only controls five of the 56 state assembly seats.

The Umno Supreme Council member said the current assumption is that each party will only compete to retain the seats won in the 2018 GE.

He said however BN is hoping to contest seats PH had previously allocated for Bersatu when the party was part of the coalition in 2018.

“If only five seats are to be given to BN, I do not agree. We will negotiate and be a bit more respectful.

“If the negotiations decide to 100% follow the status quo – if (only) five are for BN – then that kind of negotiation is not appropriate,” said Johan.

The Hulu Langat Umno division head said negotiations with PH, which controls 40 state seats, should take place in a fairer atmosphere.

He said as one of the three major coalitions, BN should be able to claim more seats.

He also warned Umno is not only capable of joining PH, but also capable of cooperating with any party to form a strong bloc.

“There are 56 seats. (If) any of the three strong parties combine – BN, PH or PN – wherever we go, the combination will be strong,” he said.

In the last GE, BN failed to win a single parliamentary seat in Selangor and most of its seats in the north of the state were captured by PN.

Analysts including Mazlan Ali from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia acknowledged the existence of PN’s green wave that changed the landscape of Malay voters’ support for PN in the last GE.

“If you look at GE15, it is clear there is a green wave in the Malay areas of PAS and Bersatu, which got the most votes among Malay voters, enabling (those parties) to win many seats.”

Politically literate voters

However, he said, criminal cases against Bersatu leaders will be a stumbling block for the wave.

“Over the past few months we have seen a trend of PN leaders linked to several corruption cases. They were brought to court. Among them, Muhyiddin and Wan Saiful.

“I don’t see that Selangor and Negri Sembilan can be conquered by PN because the impact of the corruption issue is huge (especially) over the past 10 years.

“I think the court case faced by Bersatu leaders will lead to a situation where the green wave that existed in GE15 may no longer exist (during the state polls).”

He said voters in Selangor and Negri Sembilan are politically literate.

“This corruption has had an impact on Umno’s performance. The same thing will happen to Bersatu because there will be a trial later and there will be many revelations.

“I think it will be difficult for the PN to capture Selangor and Negri Sembilan because these are PH strongholds, the majority of the population is politically literate, and they respond strongly to matters related to corruption,” said Mazlan.

Selangor and Negri Sembilan will join Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu in holding their state polls by the mid-year. – April 3, 2023.