Pakatan Harapan (PH) is aiming to increase its number of seats in the Melaka state assembly rather than win control of the state government in next month’s election, says state chairman Adly Zahari.
Adly said PH recognised that regaining control of the Melaka government would be a mammoth task, Utusan Malaysia reported.
“That’s why our focus in Melaka is to add to our number of seats, not to regain power in the state,” he said.
In the 2021 Melaka state election, Barisan Nasional won 21 seats, while PH secured five and Perikatan Nasional took two.
Hung assembly remains a possibility
Adly said the state election could result in a hung assembly, requiring the formation of a coalition government, similar to the federal administration.
The Amanah vice-president said Umno appeared to recognise this possibility, judging by its decision to form an electoral pact with PAS for the state polls.
The two-term Bukit Katil assemblyman said PH needed to secure about 30% of the Malay vote to win several key battlegrounds.
“If we only garner 20% of Malay votes, we may only be able to add a few seats.
“However, if we fail to even reach 20%, we risk losing some of the seats we won previously,” said Adly, who acknowledged that his Bukit Katil seat was also “at risk”.
Adly is seeking a third term in Bukit Katil, a mixed constituency where Malays make up 65% of the electorate, followed by Chinese voters at 29.7% and Indian voters at 4.26%.
He first won the seat with a majority of 3,159 votes in 2018 before retaining it in 2021 with a reduced majority of 1,057 votes.
PH has no need for a poster boy
Adly, a former Melaka chief minister, said PH did not need to name a poster boy for the state election, adding that the coalition had never discussed the matter.
He said PH’s strategy this time was for each candidate to focus fully on their respective constituencies.
“It’s no use having a poster boy who cannot win or defend his seat,” he said.
Adly served as chief minister from 2018 to 2020, when he was ousted following the collapse of the PH-led administrations at both state and federal levels.
