By Niza Shimi
The iconic photograph that captured a moment in history shows Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Tun M) being at the front and centre of Pakatan Harapan (PH). All eyes were on him during this press conference held soon after PH won the 14th general elections (GE14).
Tun M is now with Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang). Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (sitting extreme left) is now with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition. Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (standing in yellow) is now president of Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA).
Where did it all go wrong? It’s a long story, as they say, but the blame game is still ongoing. The volley of words between Tun M and Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) deputy president Rafizi Ramli is getting a little unsettling.
Recently, New Straits Times reported on November 4, 2022, Tun M responding to statements by Rafizi that he (Tun M) didn’t bring in the Malay votes and that PH need not work with Pejuang and its Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition for GE15.
Describing the attack as an attempt to smear his image, Tun M said, “They used to make all sorts of allegations against me, accusing me of being a dictator, accusing me of cronyism."
"However, after I joined their party (PH), I was picked as the prime minister. If they believed that I was so bad, why they picked me then," he asked.
Yes, why indeed? Why did PH do it? I'm not particularly impressed that Tun M did what he did but that's water under the bridge now. But old folks can be very sensitive, you know. They’re not like disposables, use once and discard after.
To Rafizi's credit, he had been saying this same thing for some time. NST reported on May 28, 2018 that a post-GE14 survey conducted by Invoke Malaysia (founded by Rafizi) in which they found voters to have been more affected by bread and butter issues compared to loyalty to Dr. Mahathir.
Which begs the question, has support for PH improved from Malay voters since Tun M’s exit and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim taking the helm?
For the upcoming GE15 on November 19, 2022, Rafizi had forecasted that PH could secure 30% of the Malay votes as a PKR survey found a shift of Malay support partly due to dissatisfaction over the government’s effort in addressing the rising cost of living.
However, political analyst Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara thinks that the fight for Malay votes in the coming general election (GE15) will be tough with an increase in the number of Malay-based parties entering the fray.
Already the number of candidates that have been nominated by the various political parties will make two-cornered fights a thing of the past. Multi-cornered fights will be more likely to split Malay votes.
Will the strength of personality of Tun M, Anwar and other well-known newer candidates make a difference in how the votes will be cast? Would Malays be so fed up that they would vote for the familiar? Will voter turn out to be affected? We will find out soon enough.
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