History will weigh heavily on any consideration of cooperation between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Bersatu in the next Melaka state election, analysts say.
However, Universiti Malaya’s Tawfik Yaakub said such a pact could not be completely ruled out, given that pragmatism remained a cornerstone of politics.
Tawfik said one of the biggest hurdles would be convincing staunch PH supporters in Melaka to back Bersatu candidates after what happened in 2020.
“I believe that some staunch PH supporters may still have a deep-seated mistrust of Bersatu and would find it difficult to accept instructions to vote for the party’s candidates,” he told FMT.
Rebuilding political trust
In February 2020, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali led a walkout by several MPs from PH, resulting in the collapse of the government in the now-infamous Sheraton Move.
Tawfik said PH leaders would find it difficult to place their trust in Bersatu now, making it unlikely that they would turn to their former ally simply because they needed another Malay party to “replace” Umno.
“Kickstarting negotiations between the two parties is not the biggest challenge. It is rebuilding political trust that has been damaged,” he said.
However, Tawfik acknowledged that politics was ultimately about pragmatism.
He said PH supporters might accept a tactical pact with Bersatu if PH could explain how the two sides shared common goals or had common enemies.
“Nonetheless, a convincing narrative is essential. Otherwise, it will spark confusion and rejection among PH’s grassroots supporters,” he said.
“The big question here is not just whether the leaders (of both PH and Bersatu) can cooperate, but whether the supporters of both parties are prepared to vote for each other’s candidates.”
Bersatu open to election pact
On Tuesday, Melaka Bersatu information chief Hishamuddin Abdul Karim said the state chapter was open to exploring an election pact with PH for the Melaka polls.
Citing Bersatu’s dismal performance in the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections, Hishamuddin said all options must be considered with an open mind to ensure the party’s survival.
In the last Melaka state election in November 2021, Barisan Nasional (BN) won 21 of the 28 state assembly seats. PH won five, while the remaining two were won by Perikatan Nasional (PN) through Bersatu.
The next state election is due by late February next year.
Tawfik said a pact could reduce vote-splitting that might otherwise favour BN or PN.
He noted that Bersatu still had certain organisational networks and a support base that could complement PH’s resources.
“However, the benefit would be merely tactical and not a guarantee of victory, as PH needs to assess whether the additional votes from Bersatu would outweigh the potential loss of supporters who disagree with the cooperation,” he said.
Seat allocation and support base
Lau Zhe Wei of the International Islamic University Malaysia said a pact between PH and Bersatu would repeat the episode in which PKR, DAP and Amanah worked with former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to unseat BN from federal power.
However, he questioned what PH stood to gain from working with Bersatu at this point, given the party’s diminishing influence and support.
Lau said PH would also have to weigh two issues: seat allocation and whether Bersatu could bring scandals that the coalition would inadvertently have to bear.
Tawfik agreed, saying PH must remember that Bersatu had suffered a major loss of supporters, members and leaders to opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin’s Parti Wawasan Negara over the past few months.
