Of voracious Umno and the pie it was forced to eat

SHAH ALAM – If Umno had not been greedy it would not have had to -- once again -- eat another serving of a humble pie.

But it did.

And so, at the 15th General Elections (GE15), which ended yesterday, the Malay party had experienced its second rude awakening at national polls – that Umno is not as strong as it used to be.

This time around, Barisan Nasional – led by Umno – only won 30 parliamentary seats.

Essentially, this was BN's and Umno’s worst electoral performance at a general election as in GE14 it managed to cinch 54 seats, despite losing the said bout.

Umno’s GE15 result looked even more dismal as it happened against its stellar performance at the Melaka and Johor state elections, where it won the two states handsomely.

That being said, any politically savvy Malaysian would have known that general elections are a different ball game than their state counterparts.

For example, in mere months prior to GE14, Umno won big time at the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections only to be, later on, trounced in GE14.

Nonetheless, this simple fact seemed to elude Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Why? Who knows. Who cares.

But as it is, many saw Umno – and to a certain extent, Zahid – as being a tad voracious and ambitious; believing that it can do well if it goes into the poll on its own.

Evidently, this was not true because it was due to political alliances that allowed the underdog in GE15 – Perikatan Nasional (PN) – to win way more parliamentary seats than Umno; 73 to be precise.

However, because Pakatan Harapan (PH) won 82 seats; an impasse had happened as none have garnered enough seats to form government.

Had Zahid was more warm, welcoming, and unselfish, this ongoing political deadlock would not have happened as both PN and BN would have garnered an additional 27 seats on top of the ones they won.

The math is simple. PN’s 73 + BN’s 30 + the additional 27 = 130 parliamentary seats.

In fact, Umno would not have lost promising candidates such as Khairy Jamaluddin, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Shahril Sufian Hamdan.

A PN+BN alliance would have also enabled the two coalition to essentially sweep PH out of Johor.

On PN’s side, had there been a PN+BN alliance, Datuk Seri Azmin Ali would not have been bested in Gombak and Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu could have buried PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Tambun.

For a more detailed assessment please refer the data listed below:

Kedah

Sungai Petani [PH: 50,580; PN: 49,465; BN: 27,391] [PN+BN: 76,856]

Penang

Balik Pulau [PH: 24,564; PN: 22,982; BN: 15,478] [PN+BN: 38,460]

Perak

Sungai Siput: [PH: 21,637; PN: 8,190; BN: 19,791] [PN+BN: 27,981]

Tanjong Malim: [PH: 25,140; PN: 21,599; BN: 20,963] [PN+BN: 42,562]

Tambun: [PH: 49,625; PN: 45,889; BN: 28,140] [PN+BN: 74,029]

Selangor

Hulu Langat: [PH: 58,382; PN: 43,486; BN: 32,570] [PN+BN: 76,056]

Sepang: [PH: 56,264; PN: 47,315; BN: 31,097] [PN+BN: 78,412]

Gombak: [PH: 72,267; PN: 59,538; BN: 30,723] [PN+BN: 90,261]

Kuala Selangor: [PH: 31,033; PN: 23,639; BN: 30,031] [PN+BN: 53,670]

Shah Alam: [PH: 61,409; PN: 43,314; BN: 28,266] [PN+BN: 71,580]

Sungai Buloh: [PH: 50,943; PN: 29,060; BN: 48,250] [PN+BN: 77,310]

Pahang

Raub: [PH: 21,613; PN: 17,256; BN: 16,939] [PN+BN: 34,195]

Bentong: [PH: 25,075; PN: 16,233; BN: 24,383] [PN+BN: 40,616]

Melaka

Hang Tuah Jaya [PH: 39,418; PN: 23,549; BN: 30,780] [PN+BN: 54,329]

Alor Gajah: [PH:28,178; PN: 17,211; BN: 27,288] [PN+BN: 44,499]

Johor

Pulai [PH: 64,900; PN: 20,677; BN: 31,726] [PN+BN: 52,403];

Pasir Gudang [PH: 71,233; PN: 39,675; BN: 37,369] [PN+BN: 77,044];

Johor Bahru [PH: 43,252; PN: 22,075; BN: 27,211] [PN+BN: 49,286]

Tebrau [PH: 83,959; PN: 53,239; BN: 30,767] [PN+BN: 84,006];

Iskandar Puteri: [PH: 96,819; PN: 30,078; BN: 36,783] [PN+BN: 66,861]

Sekijang: [PH: 18,941; PN: 11,612; BN: 17,207] [PN+BN: 28,819]

Segamat: [PH: 23,437; PN: 8,385; BN: 17,768] [PN+BN: 26,153]

Labis: [PH: 16,133; PN: 5,312; BN: 13,300] [PN+BN: 18,612]

Ledang: [PH: 33,650; PN: 22,292; BN: 23,881] [PN+BN: 46,173]

Sri Gading: [PH: 23,242; PN: 18,475; BN: 19,242] [PN+BN: 37,717]

Batu Pahat: [PH: 45,242; PN: 29,270; BN: 24,309] [PN+BN: 53,579]

Muar: [MUDA: 19,961; PN: 18,616; BN: 14,581] [PN+BN: 33,197]

Oh my. It looks like Zahid has serious explaining to do.

Where to start? Maybe Zahid should admit that gone were the days in which Umno had an impeccable charm on the Malays.

That perhaps, the party needs come to terms with the fact that Malay politics have entered a new era where Umno can no longer put up the big brother antics and get away scott free.

After all, the Malays have even buried -- politically -- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday.