Attacking Malay institutions to discredit Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) is unlikely to help Pakatan Harapan (PH) win votes in the Melaka election, an analyst says.
Another political analyst has cautioned PH campaigners against making personal attacks on rival candidates, warning that such tactics could trigger a backlash.
“PH can campaign as loudly and aggressively in Melaka as it did in previous state elections, so long as it exercises caution when it comes to Malay institutions,” Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara told FMT.
He said PH’s aggressive attacks on Umno over the Tabung Haji (TH) controversy during the Negeri Sembilan campaign had failed to resonate with voters.
“I think the Malay voters rejected PH in part due to its aggressive approach and their attempt to link Umno with the failures of TH, Felda and UiTM Holdings,” he said.
Attacks on Malay institutions may backfire
Azmi said the prevailing perception among Malays was that DAP had tried to ‘destroy’ TH when the government established the special purpose vehicle Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd in 2018 to facilitate the acquisition of the fund’s underperforming assets.
This took place during Lim Guan Eng’s tenure as finance minister. Lim was also DAP secretary-general at the time.
A royal commission of inquiry report released in August found that poor governance, political interference and financial misrepresentation had led TH to report a RM3.4 billion profit despite an RM11 billion deficit between 2014 and 2020.
In the case of Felda, the government revealed that financial mismanagement, aggressive corporate acquisitions and political interference had resulted in a RM10 billion loss in 2017.
UiTM, meanwhile, recorded pre-tax losses totalling RM157 million over a four-year period from 2017.
“I think you need to be loud and aggressive (in the Melaka campaign), but not by attacking (Umno-BN) directly using the Malay institutions. It does not work,” Azmi said.
He said PH should instead focus on demonstrating how it could govern Melaka better than BN, which won the previous state election in 2021.
Azmi was commenting on PH secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s recent statement that the coalition would conduct a peaceful campaign in Melaka, having learnt that victory did not go to the loudest but to the most trusted.
Saifuddin’s remarks came as PH entered its fourth state election campaign since the end of last year, following polls in Sabah, Johor and Negeri Sembilan, with limited electoral success.
PH won only one of the five seats it contested in the Sabah state election in November last year, compared with the eight seats it secured in the 2020 polls.
In the Johor election in July, it won eight seats, down from 12 in the previous election in 2022.
In Negeri Sembilan in August, PH secured 11 seats, compared with 17 in the 2023 election.
PH urged to avoid personal attacks
Academic Lau Zhe Wei of the International Islamic University Malaysia said PH campaigners should refrain from making personal attacks on candidates from rival parties.
He said this was particularly important when dealing with popular incumbent representatives who had performed well, citing BN’s Noor Helmy Abdul Halem, who is seeking a second term as the Duyong assemblyman.
“Helmy is popular among Duyong’s residents, including non-Malays. If you relentlessly criticise your opponents, there will be a backlash,” Lau told FMT.
He added that PH should target the rival party rather than the individual candidate.
PH is contesting 24 of the 28 seats in the Nov 14 Melaka state election. It has also formed an electoral pact with Bersatu, which is contesting seven seats, although the two parties are facing off against each other in three constituencies.
