State polls: Perikatan expects strong support with voters forsaking Barisan, Pakatan

PETALING JAYA: There will be something close to an overwhelming support for Perikatan Nasional in the six state elections, claims its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The coalition expects to reel in disgruntled Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional voters, he added.

The Bersatu president and former prime minister said, however, it does not matter if the votes for Perikatan are protest votes and not actual support for the coalition.

Muhyiddin said what matters is that the people vote for Perikatan, no matter what the reason.

He said the wave will not be green or blue, but a wave of discontent against the unity government of Pakatan and Barisan.

“After the 15th General Election, the people realised that they did not get what they voted for. They are very angry,” said Muhyiddin.

He was referring to the formation of the unity government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by the two rival coalitions, Pakatan and Barisan, that campaigned against each other.

“In the six state elections… the voters who voted for Pakatan and Barisan will not vote for them again and those who did not vote for us will now tend to vote for Perikatan.

“Analysts have predicted that Umno may lose most of their seats this round,” he added.

Muhyiddin said Umno voters now realise that they have the choice of another coalition which fights for Malay and Muslim rights.

“Malays have ditched Umno as evident from the results of GE15 when Umno got the lowest number of parliamentary seats in its history,” he said.

The rise of Perikatan, which won 74 parliamentary seats compared to Barisan’s 30, was said to be due to the overwhelming Malay votes it received.

This was dubbed the green wave, as PAS emerged as the party with the most parliamentary seats at 43.

“The Malays did not merely vote for us then because they protested against Pakatan and Barisan, but they have seen what we did when we were the government, when we served everyone irrespective of background, race and religion during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Therefore, when they vote for us, they are not just sending a message to Umno that they are unhappy, but a recognition of our track record as a caring government although we did not label ourselves as such.

“The rejection of Barisan and Pakatan in the state elections will not only create the wave of the rise of the people – I do not want to colour the wave as green or blue – but it is a rising against a government which has not performed (in terms of the economy) and is doing nothing about it.

“It will be a vote of disappointment and anger against this present government, which has failed to act to heal the economy.

“This is quite an unusual situation and this time, we believe the people… want change to happen as they are in dire need for the economy to be better,” said Muhyiddin.

He also said that while some have dubbed the cooperation between Pakatan and Barisan as a “forced marriage”, he thinks it is more a marriage of convenience between the two personalities who head the two coalitions.

“(It involves Pakatan chairman) Anwar, who has wanted power as the prime minister for such a long time and who did not even have the numbers when he was appointed… and Umno president (and Barisan chairman) Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who still faces 47 corruption charges and wants them dropped.

“These are the key figures in the marriage who are trying to protect each other for their self-interest and that is the basis of their coexistence.

“Therefore, it would not last long, what more with the infighting and the grassroots of the parties not being happy.

“Look at Barisan, where are MCA and MIC? The coalition is just a namesake in this government with the only party representing Barisan in the government being Umno.

“Furthermore, within Umno, there is in-fighting and the members are questioning if Umno has strayed from its struggle of fighting for race, religion and country, when (their) leaders asked them to support DAP.

“This is all for show. There is no sign of stability. They call themselves ‘unity’ but they are not united,” Muhyiddin said, without mincing his words.

Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Negri Sembilan and Selangor go to the polls on Aug 12.