YESTERDAY, Malaysia saw another state-level election ending, with Barisan Nasional (BN) again triumphing over other coalitions.
Just like in Melaka last year, BN won a two-thirds majority in the Johor state legislative assembly by grabbing 40 out of the 56 state seats contested.
Pakatan Harapan, BN’s traditional adversary, only managed to win 12 seats while Perikatan Nasional only won three seats.
New kid on the block, the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) surprised pundits by winning one state seat, which is Puteri Wangsa.
All the other parties which tried their luck in the polls such as Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM), Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) bit the dust, with their candidates even losing their deposits.
Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), led by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, fielded 42 candidates in the state polls but all of them lost their deposits.
In a nutshell, as said by many political analysts before, BN is making a comeback and the coalition is making sure that their “roar” is heard across the country.
And just like in the Melaka polls, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s renewed image as “Bossku” is striking the right chord among the populace.
Yes, we can call Najib a convicted felon, shameless and arrogant all we want but never underestimate his popularity among the masses, which what really counts during elections.
In any case, with BN celebrating its second massive win, no doubt UMNO will pressure Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve the Parliament as soon as possible for a general election to take place.
Many have speculated that if BN does win the next general election, Najib could probably make a comeback as the prime minister, a notion one should not take lightly.
While it is not certain how UMNO is going to force Ismail Sabri’s hands, surely the latter would be put in tight spot where he has to juggle between party interest and national interest given that the country is still suffering from COVID-19 and an economic downturn.
Coming to Pakatan, again as been said by many analysts before which was clearly ignored by their leaders, the coalition needs to reform and rebrand itself if it wants to gain public support as it did in the past.
And it looks like PKR’s gamble to contest using its own logo did not pay off as many of its leaders have predicted. The only consolation is that the party won the Bukit Batu seat, albeit with wafer-thin majority of 137 votes.
It is time Pakatan’s leadership team such as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu stop listening to the sycophants surrounding them and start hitting the ground again to listen to grassroots’ grouses.
Karma hits back at Muhyiddin
While we can agree that Mahathir and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu)’s backstabbing in February 2020 led to their “suffering” now, it must be reiterated that Pakatan can bounce back stronger if they take the right steps needed to “touch the people’s heart again”.
If Najib can “reinvent” himself despite court convictions and the “national embarrassment” remark hanging on his head, why is it so difficult for Pakatan to transform itself? This is a question the Opposition coalition should ask itself.
As for Perikatan, it clearly shows chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that karma does have its way of hitting back at someone who betrays the people’s trust.
With his party losing much ground in a second state election, the Pagoh MP must have come to realisation that the writing is on the wall. Probably that is why he announced that he was willing to relinquish his chairmanship of the coalition if that is what his team wants.
Bear in mind that voters showed him a clear sign of their apprehension when the Gambir seat, which was held by Muhyiddin before the state election, was won by a BN candidate.
As for MUDA, Johor seems to have given the new party a much-needed break with its secretary general Amira Aisya Abd Aziz winning the Puteri Wangsa seat.
However, it is now up to the latter to show Johoreans and Malaysians as whole how MUDA can perform better than the other coalitions. – March 13, 2022
Main photo credit: Malaysiakini
