Political analyst Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia said the changing of the guard was necessary, particularly as party president Muhyiddin Yassin is bogged down with court cases involving charges of corruption and even sedition.
Even senior figures such as parliamentary opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, often touted as a potential Bersatu president, and PN election director Azmin Ali should take a step back, Fauzi said.
Although such a change looks unlikely at the coming Bersatu elections in November, Fauzi maintained that young leaders with fresh ideas were needed to revive the party, “someone like Ashraf Mustaqim, the assemblyman of Kota Seputeh in Kedah”.
Fauzi said Hamzah and Azmin are part of the old guard who have been in politics for more than 25 years. “They should be thinking of packing up their bags if Perikatan Nasional fails to form the government at the next general election,” he told FMT.
Bersatu’s candidate, representing PN, lost by a landslide to Barisan Nasional at the Mahkota state by-election, as Umno emerged the victor with a majority of 20,648 votes, four times what it achieved at the state election in 2022.
Mahkota was the 10th by-election since 2022. Bersatu represented PN in four of them, losing all. Of the four, Mahkota was its heaviest defeat, followed by the Pulai parliamentary seat in Johor (18,641-vote majority), Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat in Selangor (3,869) and the Nenggiri state seat in Kelantan (3,352).
In comparison, PAS contested against PH and BN in five by-elections and won three – the Kuala Terengganu and Kemaman parliamentary seats in Terengganu, and the Sungai Bakap state assembly seat in Penang.
Independent analyst Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani said Bersatu must make concerted efforts to not rely solely on Malay votes, despite its strong performance in 2022.
“Bersatu must recognise the need for support from other demographic groups to succeed and remain relevant on the national level,” he said.
It also needed to expand its political rhetoric to economic and social policies.