He said Malays also look at governance, including effective management of the economy, administrative integrity and policies that have a direct impact on people’s daily lives.
“It’s more about everyday realities than nationalist rhetoric. Political stability has become a priority,” said Hisomuddin, who is executive director of Ilham Centre. “Voters are feeling the fatigue created by internal party conflicts, party-hopping and frequent changes in government,” he told FMT.
Hisomuddin said voters wanted a stable administration, consistent policy direction, the ability to maintain investor confidence and a promise of long-term prosperity.
He said political parties today are evaluated not only based on their historical struggles or ethnicity, but also on how convincingly they can realistically offer a progressive and inclusive future.
His comments come after the recent launch of a new Malay unity alliance by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, created as a loose coalition to gather fractured Malay political forces under one “big umbrella”.
Hisomuddin said the alliance is a reaction to the landscape after the 15th general election, with the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional government seen as lacking the majority of Malay support.
“In GE15, Perikatan Nasional emerged as the most dominant bloc among Malay voters, despite multi-cornered fights with Malay parties like Pejuang,” he noted.
Hisomuddin said the alliance could hypothetically improve the Malay vote count beyond PN’s performance in GE15 – nearly 70% of Malay votes – but only if it successfully unites all the splinter groups.
More to prove than just unity
However, Hisomuddin said recent by-elections point to a different reality, with BN winning comfortably in Nenggiri, Mahkota and Ayer Kuning due to votes from PH supporters, including non-Malays.
“Even though Umno has not fully recovered its influence among Malay voters, its strategic cooperation with PH is keeping it alive, winning seats through combined vote mobilisation,” he said.
Hisomuddin said the Malay alliance has more to prove than just its ability to unite, and faces a much bigger challenge than simply gathering fragmented Malay entities.
“It must demonstrate that it is able to disrupt the current voter support patterns created by the PH-BN alliance,” he said.
Syaza Shukri of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) said the alliance lacks clear goals and has yet to truly explain its purpose.
“I don’t know if they will be effective, because I don’t know how or what to measure. What are they planning to do? What do they want to change?” she said to FMT.
Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara also said the alliance is unlikely to pick up steam because unlike during the earlier Pakatan Harapan government, no driving issues are currently pushing Malay-based parties together.
“At that time, the Rome Statute was the main factor. But not right now. There is no issue. Umno is quite comfortable in the government,” he told FMT.