Umno faces difficulties in state polls due to decreasing Malay support, says analyst
SHAH ALAM - While the leaders of PKR express confidence in the strong support of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions compared to Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the upcoming election, a different perspective has been offered by a political analyst from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
The Institute of Ethnic Studies (Kita) Deputy Director, Prof Kartini Aboo Talib said that Umno is likely to face challenges in winning the state elections in six states due to the decreasing support from the Malay community, which consequently affects PH's support.
Kartini further stressed that Umno is currently experiencing internal divisions.
"PH is already strong without Umno. In fact, PH represents a multi-ethnic voter base as well.
"Umno President, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, can be seen as one of the reasons for the declining support for PH.
"The crucial point is that insiders within Umno do not support Zahid. They have delved too deep and fail to recognize the gravity of the situation," she told Astro Awani on Tuesday.
Astro Awani reported that PKR Deputy President Rafizi Ramli claimed that the 'swing' PN received in the 15th General Election (GE15) had started to subside significantly.
Rafizi claimed that the pattern of change was based on research data as of last June, which data, he said, would be revealed in the near future ahead of the state election campaign.
He further claimed that the data showed that the PH administration in three states, namely Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Penang, was comfortable.
Kartini also believed that the collapsing economic situation is also one of the main factors in voters rejecting Umno and PH.
"A big factor (reduced support) is the economic situation which shows no signs of recovering soon.
"Rakyat is struggling now and PH bears a big responsibility immediately to publicize the targeted economic aid package," she added.
Even so, he admitted that the demography of the urban population had shown a consistent trend of support for the Unity Government. - AWANI
