BARISAN Nasional is strong because it has a strong patronage system and practises mass-based politics anchored on the personal touch with the rural voters, said Universiti Utara Malaysia professor Dr Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani.

“It is hard to break their patronage system because it stretches from top to bottom,” Azizuddin told the forum “Pakatan Harapan vs Barisan Nasional Review”, in Shah Alam today.

“They visit people at weddings, go to funerals and get involved in the communities. As such, their personal touch is very good.”

As many as 52 of these rural seats were in the Felda settlements, he said, adding he had yet to see Pakatan Harapan reaching the Malay grassroots in the same way BN did, especially after PAS left the opposition coalition.

International Islamic University Malaysia lecturer Dr Maszlee Malik said that Bersatu had the same formula as Umno: patronage politics.

“Only something similar can fight against Umno. Semangat 46 (that was started by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah) was the same in 1990.

“PKR, although also a Malay party, does not have the same DNA. However, they won big in 1999 because of a tragedy: Anwar Ibrahim’s black eye. So, Malay voters will move away from the patronage system if there is a tragedy,” he added.

Fellow panelist, Ideas chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan said perhaps that was why Bersatu was led by elder politicians, such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir.

“PH has to move beyond the elder politicians who have their own baggage. Bersatu has 200,000 members, 55% of which are below the age of 35, but yet they are led by elder people.

“It’s okay for the older politicians to be chairman, president or adviser but the Cabinet or the prime minister should be from a younger crowd. Anyone among us can be PM,” he joked, referring to the panelists.

Maszlee said that in the 2013 elections there was the youth, Chinese and urban Malay tsunami, and another was necessary. 

“Fifty-two percent of the voters are women but 70% of them voted for BN. In Bersatu’s membership, only 30% of them are women and they have no female icons.

“That’s an area they can work on,” he added. – July 26, 2017.