Dr Johan Saravanamuttu, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said most of the Malay rural voters, like those living in the Felda areas, are core Umno supporters.
“However, the GST has impacted poor people more compared with those who are rich and in the middle class segment of the population.
“This will effect the incumbent government as they were the ones that implemented the consumption tax,” he said after speaking at a forum on three-cornered fights in GE14 at Nottingham University here today.
He was asked to comment on whether the 6% GST, implemented in April 2015, would lead to voters taking out their frustrations on Barisan Nasional (BN) and voting for Pakatan Harapan instead.
Johan also suggested that Prime Minister Najib Razak has not committed to naming a date for GE14 as he wants to “minimise” the impact from the GST factor.
“Yes, when it was introduced two years ago, the impact was immediate,” he said, adding everyone felt the pitch from the price increases.
However, Johan said maybe after two years, the locals may be “used to it” like the Singaporeans are.
The GST, which replaced the 10% sales and service tax, was implemented on April 1, 2015.
It has been blamed by many quarters for the rising cost of living and for prices of many items going up.