Keeping DAP out of Nenggiri helped BN to win, say analysts

Voters going to the polls in Nenggiri today. The constituency has 20,230 registered voters, comprising 17,636 Malay voters, 36 Chinese voters, eight Indian voters, and 2,843 voters from other ethnic groups, including Orang Asli. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Barisan Nasional’s decision to dissuade its unity government coalition ally DAP from campaigning at the Nenggiri by-election is among the factors that contributed to the coalition’s comfortable win tonight, two political observers said.

Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said Umno’s image had been boosted by its courage in publicly telling DAP it was not necessary for the party, its former arch rival, to help in the campaign.

“It showed that Umno was strong and could go solo,” he told FMT. Such a powerful perception had encouraged many of Umno’s supporters to come out in full force to help BN win with a majority of over 3,000 votes.

It had been previously reported that some Umno members remained uneasy over BN’s alliance with the DAP.

In the run-up to the by-election, Umno’s election director for Nenggiri, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, said there was no need for DAP to campaign on the ground that the constituency was “100% Malay”, while a majority of DAP leaders were non-Malay.

Supreme Council member Ahmad Maslan later also said there was no necessity for DAP to go to the ground as there were only 35 Chinese voters in the constituency.

Tengku Razaleigh’s strategy to distance Umno from DAP was effective, according to political observer Lau Zhe Wei of International Islamic University Malaysia.

“Not having DAP around reduced the risk of the party being made a punching bag,” he said.

A spat between PN allies PAS and Gerakan and another coalition tussle between PAS and Bersatu to contest the Nenggiri seat had also led to Perikatan Nasional’s loss, he said.

PAS and Gerakan were at loggerheads over the controversy surrounding the funding of vernacular schools by breweries, a feud which led to Gerakan threatening to quit the opposition coalition.

“These issues led to Nenggiri returning to Umno,” said Lau.

Today’s by-election was called when the seat was declared vacant in June after then assemblyman Azizi Abu Naim ceased to be a Bersatu member.

The Nenggiri seat had been held by Umno from its creation in 2004 until last year when Azizi, contesting on a PAS ticket, defeated previous assemblyman Ab Aziz Yusoff of Umno.

Lau said that PN’s loss today would have an impact on the “green wave” a term coined by politicians to describe the political rise of PN in the 2022 general election. PAS won 43 seats in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, the largest number of any single party, while its partner Bersatu won 25 seats.

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Keeping DAP out of Nenggiri helped BN to win, say analysts

Azmi Hassan says the strategy boosted Umno's image, while Lau Zhe Wei says it reduced the chances of DAP becoming a punching bag.