PAS’ conservative Islamist narrative has struck a chord with young voters and it can count on this vote bank to back its Malay-Muslim agenda for the coming decade, analysts said.

They said this after the party’s thumping victory in the Kemaman by-election over the weekend where Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar defeated Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor.

The Terengganu menteri besar won with a bigger majority compared to party’s initial win in the general election last year. Samsuri polled 64,998 votes and Raja Mohamed Affandi 27,778.

The 70.1% vote share is a significant increase from the 58.11% Perikatan Nasional (PN) achieved in last year’s polls.

Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said PAS had made several strategic moves after the 14th general election in 2018, including collaborating with Umno to form Muafakat Nasional.

He added that PAS was also able to win the minds of young voters, especially in the east coast as well as in Kedah and Perlis with their Malay-Muslim agenda.

“In GE14, PAS was trailing behind Pakatan Harapan (PH) and BN but as soon as they lost, they sought Umno for cooperation.

“After that they made a bold move by ditching Umno to work with Bersatu and that was the turning point. They won the trust of the Malays who wanted to see a strong Malay-Muslim force.

“Young Malay voters accepted this narrative and this was proven in Kemaman, where PAS succeeded in getting the support of Umno voters. Those who voted for Umno in the last general election backed PN this time, including the young voters.

“There was a shift of votes from Umno to PAS in Kemaman and that is why we saw PAS winning with a bigger majority than their last fight in 2022,” he said.

Hisommudin’s sentiment was echoed by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia senior academic Mazlan Ali, who said Umno was not able to win the trust of young Malay voters.

He said the narrative played by PN in the previous general election had affected Malay-Muslim voters.

“PAS was all out with their right-wing Malay-Muslim agenda. Young voters who have little understanding of politics agreed with this narrative. Not just in the east coast but also in a developed state like in Selangor. PN won the Malay-majority seats.

“There are also many ‘ustaz’ and ‘ustazah’ on social media talking about LGBT, about living the hedonistic lifestyle and attending concerts; these are all sensitive issues for Malay voters.

“That is why PAS continues to get the support of Malay-Muslim voters, to the point that it humiliated the unity government in the Kemaman by-election,” said Mazlan.

He added that PAS will enjoy the support for another five to 10 years as the unity government has no clout in the east coast.

“Umno voters have gone to PAS because they cannot accept DAP. This will continue for another 10 years.

“BN-PH has a lot to do. They have no base in Kelantan and Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis. They may need years to catch up,” Mazlan said.

Anwar should be worried

Hisommudin concurred that the unity government had failed to win the Malay vote and Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister should be worried.

“This is a sign voters are rejecting BN and Umno.

“PH have yet to convince Malay voters of the concept of a unity government.

“This should worry the government because they can’t influence or convince the Malays,” he said.

In the August state elections, PN retained Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis. It also won some Malay-majority seats in Selangor and Johor.

Pundits had previously said PAS and Bersatu will continue to receive the backing of Malay voters due to its right-wing narrative.

On Sunday, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said there is a growing wave of support for PN, following the coalition’s landslide victory in Kemaman.

“This is a referendum of the people’s rejection of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s PH-BN coalition,” he said.

However, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the unity government is not worried about PAS’ victory in the by-election.

He said in fact, the government will work harder to ensure delivery of its services for Kemaman folk. – December 5, 2023.