adminKUALA LUMPUR: UMNO must be prepared to hand over the prime minister’s seat to PAS if the party is able to build a higher reach in the ‘elite’ segment of society and has the ability to become dominant.
Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, UiTM Pahang, Raub Campus, Muhammad Ariff Asyrul Adnan said that no one can deny the strength of PAS’ grassroots in monopolizing the narrative or support of voters, especially the Malays.
However, he stressed that the situation would certainly cause quite critical fragmentation if the two parties clashed.
“The difference between these two and PKR is that they both have the same voter focus, namely Malays, compared to Pakatan Harapan (PH) which focuses on the ‘ multiracial ‘ principle in gaining support.
“PH’s segmentation is more friendly in urban and sub-urban areas compared to BN-PAS which has great influence in rural areas and areas that are ‘ Malay-belt’ ,” he said in a statement today.
According to him, if a consensus to name a PM candidate from BN-PAS has not been successfully reached, it is likely that it will affect the credibility of the two parties in their efforts to lead Malaysia if the 16th general election is held.
He added that although BN-PAS has the potential to dominate due to several main factors, particularly the dominance of identity politics, if they still cannot reach an agreement, what is worrying is the existence of ‘political instability’ in the collaboration.
“In the future, it has the potential to have a negative impact on the country’s stability agenda,” he stressed.
However, it is clear that UMNO’s strength cannot be denied.
“With UMNO’s experience as a party that has been in power for a long time, the grassroots strength that is starting to be seen returning towards stability will certainly create strong opposition for both parties.
“UMNO’s strength is that this party has quite comprehensive political interactions at the grassroots level and in the context of the political elite and this is enough to justify UMNO’s strength, especially in today’s context.
“For PH, with the image of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, of course he is the best candidate on offer. So far, we have yet to see candidates from BN-PN who can match Anwar’s image,” he said.
-Agency
