ARMY personnel, police officers, and teachers opted for Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the recent state polls, contributing to PN’s huge victory in Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, Ilham Center’s findings revealed.

The pollster also concluded that Umno lost the support of young Malay voters, Felda settlers, and Malay traditional villages, which also saw a switch of votes from Barisan Nasional (BN) to PN.

Ilham’s executive director Hisommudin Bakar said Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s aura was another factor pulling Malay voters away from Umno.

“It is shocking to find out that the results of early polls showed that the (votes) had now gone to PN. Army camps, police officers and teachers chose PN over the Madani government.

“This resulted in a near total wipeout of Umno in so many Malay-majority seats not only in Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu but also in Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

“Children of Umno parents now went against their families and chose PN. Young voters in the three states voted for PN.

“In the six state elections, there were 53 Felda settlements and all of them went for PN,” said Hisommudin.

He added that Umno’s loss was caused by lack of political understanding and young voters were more influenced by social media trends.

“When we go down and meet respondents face to face and when we approach young voters in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, we discover that they do not fully understand the scenario.

“For them, it is all about sentiment. About Malay and Islam rather than good governance. Some told us they would vote for PN to change the prime minister. They can’t differentiate between state polls and a general election.

“What they see in social media, that is what they believe in, even when there is a lot of misinformation and hoax news,” he added.

Addressing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s influence among young voters, Hisommudin said Anwar’s standing was still low.

He said Anwar had to change the trend quickly, adding that if the trend stayed until the next general election, PN would have the opportunity to take over Putrajaya.

“Even when Anwar meets university students, many of them revealed that they were forced to attend.

“PN has the chance to win and add more seats from Umno and BN, including mixed seats from PKR and Amanah, (but) maybe not from DAP.

“The next challenge is Pulai, Simpang Jeram and Pelangai by-elections. Will PH-BN have the formula to stop PN?” asked Hisommudin.

Hisommudin said Malay voters’ rejection of BN was due to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s image and the cooperation between DAP, Anwar Ibrahim, and Umno.

“Umno in its general assembly made it clear – no Anwar, no DAP – but they failed to explain why they chose to work with PH post-general election.

“Because of this (lack of communication) Umno grassroots chose PN. Leaders did not get on the ground to explain why this happened. Zahid’s image is also another factor. Internal and external factors,” he said.

“During our study, we also found that Umno machinery did not work wholeheartedly. The problem lies with candidates, logistics, and finance,” he added. – August 25, 2023.