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KUALA LUMPUR – The heads of opposition parties PKR and Amanah have offered differing views on what caused Pakatan Harapan’s downfall in Johor, albeit both conceding defeat to Barisan Nasional.
Opposition leader and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said his party adheres to and accepts the decision of the electorate but lamented the low voter turnout rate.
“We are concerned with the trend of the percentage of voters coming out to vote which was very disappointing, and can threaten the democratic process,” he wrote in a statement today.
Anwar, besides thanking the PKR and PH election machinery for their efforts, admitted the defeat was an indication for political parties to consolidate their strengths in preparation for a general election.
Meanwhile, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, despite agreeing that the lower voter turnout did contribute to PH’s defeat, also asserted the opposition’s disunity was a major factor.
He claimed that opposition candidates in total had received upwards of 200,000 votes more than BN’s entire vote share.
“To me, this decision shows that BN did not grow in strength but had actually benefited from the opposition’s disunity, which was very obvious,” he wrote.
Mohamad claimed the additional 200,000 votes, if divided evenly across the 56 seats, would see each opposition candidate have almost 4,000 more votes than their BN opponents.
“This should serve as a lesson to us all on how to recalibrate and decide strategies together to face a general election not long from now.
“Hence, I would like to offer a reminder to all parties that if we continue to be divided and face BN, in the end, we will just be “on holiday” en masse after the 15th general election,” he added.
PKR and Amanah both only managed one seat each in yesterday’s polls in Johor, with PKR retaining Bukit Batu and Amanah holding on to the Simpang Jeram seat.
BN secured a supermajority yesterday after winning 40 out of the 56 seats contested. – The Vibes, March 13, 2022