FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad can help Perikatan Nasional (PN) and its component party PAS strengthen their position among Malay voter, political analysts say.

They said this included moving the support of Malay voters who backed Umno and Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 15th general election (GE15) to the opposition coalition.

It is believed these are among the factors that opened up room for dialogue and re-established cooperation between PN and Dr Mahathir. 

Dr Mahathir is set to appear on the PN stage for the first time together with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin in the Munajat Rakyat event in Kelantan on Friday.

The two-time prime minister championed the creation of a proclamation by the Malay people earlier this year after suffering a heavy defeat in GE15 last November.

He also expressed his desire to work with PAS to jointly develop the Malay Proclamation, which saw the Islamist party signing it in May.

It also witnessed the cooperation between Dr Muhyiddin and Muhyiddin for the first time after the infamous Sheraton Move in 2020 that brought down the Mahathir-led government, paving the way for Muhyiddin to set up his PN administration.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia senior lecturer Mazlan Ali said although PAS can guarantee its victory in Kelantan, there are concerns support for the party will not be at the same level as was seen during GE15. 

This is due to the policies announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, especially in helping the B40 segment cope with cost of living issues, which Mazlan believes has started to show results. 

“We have seen Anwar’s momentum lately. There are many general policies that please the people, many incentives have been given and the government has also managed to control the increase in the price of goods.

“The price of basic items such as rice and sugar are still the same, not rising, so many of the B40-group issues have already been overcome. 

“Perhaps, this has caused PAS to be concerned so it needs a comprehensive movement to safeguard its pool of supporters,” he said. 

Mazlan said working with Dr Mahathir is the right move for PN considering that the nonagenarian still has influence.

“In addition to bridging existing cooperation, Dr Mahathir is seen as a leader who can lead and create waves. 

“Dr Mahathir’s track record is good in terms of generating waves and that was obvious when he led PH, which led to the defeat of Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) in GE14.

“Although he and his party Pejuang lost badly in GE15, Dr Mahathir’s influence is still there,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar sees Dr Mahathir’s cooperation with PN as a move to swing the Malay vote.

It is about attracting the support of Malay voters who casted their ballot for BN and PH in GE15.

“This is the focus of PAS, to ensure that the Malay vote in the state polls is given to PN and not to PH and BN.

He said PN was can be seen attempting to break efforts by PH and BN to win the hearts of Malay voters by blocking any element that could cause support to shift.

The political analyst also said Dr Mahathir still wields influence and that he is an added value to PN.

“There will be those who support Dr Mahathir. We cannot deny this but at a minimal level, this segment will support Dr Mahathir and that is to some extent what PN is banking on,” he said.

When asked about PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli’s claim that more than half of the people in Kelantan were dissatisfied with the PAS administration, Hisommudin disagreed.

He said based on research Ilham Centre’s research, although there is a sentiment of dissatisfaction among the people of the state, Malay and Islamic issues trump.

“We see this even though there is no denying that dissatisfaction occurs especially with the issue of water in Kelantan and land in Terengganu, but when it comes to issues involving Muslim and Malays, they feel their way of life will be threatened under a PH-led state government.

“When a consideration is made between the two issues, the narrative of the voter’s perception and emotion is more dominant.

“And PH is also seen as still failing and still looking for ways to turn off PN’s narrative,” he said. – July 20, 2023.