PETALING JAYA: An analyst estimated that Perikatan Nasional (PN) will not be significantly affected by Pejuang’s presence if they were added to the coalition.
FMT reported that the Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir said that Pejuang is deprived of excellent leaders and lacks enough members to benefit PN.
“In terms of leadership, there is nothing it can be proud of. With Mukhriz Mahathir leading the party, it doesn’t have any wow factor.
“You can see what happened in the last general election (GE15). Pejuang did not only lose in every seat it contested, but all its candidates also lost their deposit,” he said.
In the 15th General Elections, Pejuang contested 115 parliamentary seats and 43 state seats but voters did not resonate with any of the candidates.
Former Pejuang chairman and founder Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had left the party to join Putra as its adviser and member. Jeniri pointed out that even the former leader does not have much confidence in Pejuang.
Meanwhile, another analyst from the University of Tasmania, James Chin, stated that Pejuang’s application to join PN was part of a consistent routine among right-wing Malay parties.
“PN is shaping to be a coalition that will be the umbrella for all the Malay and Islamic right-wing groups.
“If PN accepts Pejuang, the only benefit is that it will be known as a coalition that champions Malay supremacy,” James explained.
He also said that with these right-wing parties, Anwar’s unity government could not claim to have the Malays’ support.
“That is why there is a form of political instability. In Malaysia, there is a belief in politics that you can’t be a stable government if you don’t have the majority Malay support,” James added.
Pejuang has PN as its only option, given its stand towards extremism.
“That is why there is a form of political instability. In Malaysia, there is a belief in politics that you can’t be a stable government if you don’t have the majority Malay support,” he said.