They say the former Sabah-based party is taking on established parties from Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional.

Tony Paridi Bagang of Universiti Teknologi Mara Sabah said it will be a huge achievement for Warisan chief Shafie Apdal if the party is able to win any of the seats it is contesting in the peninsula.

Yesterday, Warisan announced that it will contest in 26 parliamentary and 16 state seats in the peninsula, including fielding former MCA and DAP leaders as candidates.

It named former MCA president Ong Tee Keat, who will contest the Pandan parliamentary seat, and former DAP and PKR MP Wee Choo Keong, who will contest the Wangsa Maju seat.

Tony said fielding the former leaders will provide “additional value” to Warisan’s presence in the peninsula.

According to him, Ong and Wee have loyal supporters from the past, but this will not guarantee them victory.

Ong officially became a Warisan member yesterday after a five-year hiatus from politics.

Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) viewed Warisan’s move to field the former MCA and DAP leaders as part of its efforts to provide competition in West Malaysia “following the change in political trends since 2018”.

“How well they perform will depend on the party’s election machinery and whether they can get their message across to all groups of voters in the short 14-day campaign period,“ he told FMT.