Mazlan Ali, of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said retaining Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, as the party’s president and having Mujahid as his deputy represents an effort to “harmonise the established and transformative facets” of Amanah.
He said the party’s visibility in the country’s political landscape had been limited in recent years and Mujahid can help change this.
“Amanah has experienced stagnation in recent years which is evident in its performance in the past general election (GE15) and the fact that its membership has remained at around 200,000 for quite some time,” Mazlan told FMT.
In the 14th general election, Amanah won 11 out of the 34 parliamentary seats it contested nationwide. However, in GE15, the party only managed to secure eight out of the 54 parliamentary seats it contested.
Mazlan said Amanah’s difficulty in securing Malay votes stemmed from the party’s insufficient outreach programmes to connect with the people.
“If Amanah is to compete with PAS, it needs to dominate Malay institutions by conducting activities through mosques and community centres.
“Malay politics is ‘touchy’. The voters cannot be merely tempted by rhetoric. There is a need for outreach and the personal touch.”
Meanwhile, Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara and Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the Amanah central committee’s decision to retain Mohamad as the party’s president was a strategic move to ensure stability within the party.
“They don’t want to instigate change or disrupt the stability in Amanah, especially at this crucial time for Pakatan Harapan’s overall strength in the unity government,” Azmi told FMT.
Awang Azman said the decision to retain Mohamad was made in taking into consideration the bigger picture, despite him coming in eighth in the party’s polling for the 27-member central committee yesterday.
“It was done from a strategic perspective as Mohamad is an influential figure who can foster harmonious relations with other component parties (in the unity government),” he said, referring to Mohamad’s rapport with DAP and Umno leaders.
Yesterday, Mohamad retained his position as Amanah president following the party elections in the party that he has led since its inception in 2015. Mujahid was appointed as the deputy, replacing Salahuddin Ayub, who died in July.
Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad was promoted as a new vice-president, alongside former Selangor executive councillor Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud and deputy defence minister Adly Zahari.