PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) must not grow complacent by expecting to ride on “the same” green wave that has enabled the coalition to win big in the Nov 19 national poll last year come the 16th General Election (GE16) slated for 2027.
Should this happen, then PN may at best be able to maintain the status quo if the states under PN rule perform well, according to political critic Dr Tanaka Mustafa.
“But in order to take over the Federal government, it has to be borne in mind that there is still a long way to GE16 for the PH-BN (Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional) alliance to make strategic adjustments and win the hearts of the people,” he penned in a recent Facebook posting.
“As it is, the performance of PN’s MPs has not been impressive in conveying grievances of the people nor to expose PH-BN’s poor governance quality.”
Tanaka further cautioned that with the poor performance and having too few opposition MPs who are capable of speaking out and understand the issues at hand, PH-BN will be able to restore their strength over a period of time.
“PH-BN does not need to aim to win big for every seat but suffice to continue to govern the country with a stable number of seats,” he reckoned. “If PN is still daydreaming about today’s wave factor, it will definitely be in a daze after GE16 as demonstrated by results of the recent Pulai, Simpang Jeram and Pelangai by-elections.”
While there are many issues that can be raised, Tanaka expressed disappointment that many PN MPs choose to belittle the opponent’s personality or harp on sentimental issues and unfounded claims that can be easily broken with the threat of a lawsuit.
“It is fine if one or two of them behave in that manner … but imagine everyone wants to talk about the same thing,” he lamented.
“If this continues, PN will not succeed in winning the Federal government because no matter how bad PH-BN is, they are now in power. Do not look down on those in power. If they use their power correctly, they will surely find a way to win.”
In Tanaka’s opinion, PH-BN did not fare well during the Aug 12 state elections because they failed to utilise their power properly.
“They misused their power and strategised wrongly. But in the last three by-elections, they won comfortably when they didn’t go all out to attack Sanusi (PN’s election director and Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor),” he observed.
“Imagine if they can adapt the right way and adopt the right strategy and power over the next four years. By then, they will definitely be able to enter GE16 with confidence and proper planning. They will be able to fulfil the aspirations of the people. In essence, PN will lose out if it fails to upgrade its performance.” – Oct 13, 2023
