THE landslide victory for BN, 48 seats from the 40 seats won in 2022, certainly deserves a post mortem, and a critical one too.
Political analysts, commentators, the average Malaysians in the Mamak restaurants, all are coming up with explanations towards PH’s poor performance.
A humbling self assessment by PH is also a must, an endeavour best started by Tony Pua himself who pointed out BERSAMA as a major factor.
In a recent post on Facebook, he said PH lost Perling by 1,800, in which BERSAMA got nearly 3,000 votes.
“They nearly succeeded in spoiling Stulang as well, where we eke’ed through with a 600-vote majority. PKR lost Bukit Batu to BERSAMA spoiler as well. A vote for BERSAMA is effectively a vote to let BN win more seats,” he summed up the situation.
His analysis was echoed by netizen @nizamiks on X, who showed a snapshot of Bukit Batu, where the BN candidate won by a hair’s breadth against PH.
Bersama berjaya kacau PH punya vote.
Slight difference. If only RR masih dalam PH probably this will be different. pic.twitter.com/gSlY1D4kbj
— Nizam, CFP, IFP (@nizamiks) July 11, 2026
Note that BERSAMA at Bukit Batu received 821 votes, which would have gone to PH if the former had been absent.
Netizens, however, had other ideas. “Just you know, votes are not your fix deposits. Your reformati governance are the results you sow,” said netizen George NG, making a subtle poke at the Reformasi battle cry that once defined PH.
Then there was Nic Sik who thinks that a newly created party shouldn’t be a threat to an established one, unless there are good reasons.
“Reflect among yourself first! Don’t blame others for splitting the votes. If you and co are doing well, voters will not swing to other parties. Common sense. If you guys continue to be in denial mode, you’re destined to lose in the next GE,” added a disgruntled Yee Fan Chan.
Also, Handy Wei Pin believed that even without BERSAMA, the voters in Perling would either sleep at home or cast their vote for BN.
Perhaps the winning comment comes from netizen 景宏 who sees every reason to gain from this political conundrum.
On another note, Parti BERSAMA Malaysia leader Rafizi Ramli has confirmed that all BERSAMA candidates lost their deposits in the 15 seats contested by the party in the Johor election yesterday.
In a post on X last night, Rafizi said preliminary results indicated that BERSAMA’s candidates secured only about 3% to 6% of the votes cast on average.
Under election regulations, candidates must obtain at least one-eighth, or 12.5%, of the total valid votes to avoid forfeiting their election deposit.
He added that an initial review of the outcome pointed to a notable swing in support towards Barisan Nasional across various age groups and ethnic communities.
Rafizi said BERSAMA would conduct a comprehensive assessment of the Johor election results and use the findings to improve its strategy for future contests.—July 13, 2026
Main image: Utusan Malaysia
