ANALYST: PAKATAN HARAPAN WILL LOSE IN GE14
KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan (PH) will lose in yet another general election due to several factors that they failed to address properly, an analyst said.
Universiti Malaya political expert Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi highlighted four factors that will lead to PH’s downfall.
He said the presence of Pas in the third bloc, PH’s unrealistic promises, its manifesto that did not reflect the sentiments of the majority and not being focused on its own struggle were the factors that would lead the pact to fail.
“When Pas quit (then) Pakatan Rakyat, it became the greatest challenge for PH to stay relevant.
“Secondly, its manifesto does not reflect what the majority wants.
“Take the Bahasa Melayu issue for example.
“We have yet to see PH’s stand on this. Are they going to empower the language and see it as an important communication tool in creating unity?
“They may forget, but i ssues on l anguage and unity are important to the majority of the people.”
Azman pointed out that due to its unfocused struggles, PH risked losing more support in the coming 14th General Election.
He said issues, such as its prime ministerial candidate, saving jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and a lack of compromise among component parties, would also contribute to the pact’s loss.
“Recently, Par ti Pribumi Bersa-tu Malaysia Youth chief (Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman) talked about the party’s Bumiputera-centric position. They are not focused and their struggles keep changing.
“Fourthly, most of the promis- es that PH made in its manifesto are unrealistic.
“I saw their manifesto and it stated that they will create 200,000 jobs per year.
“But, what are the methods? “The people want to know so that they will understand and can see for themselves whether PH’s promises are realistic,” he said.
When asked on the possible “Malay tsunami”, which the opposition claimed would be prevalent and cost Barisan Nasional (BN) the Federal Government, Azman said it depended on how successful PH would be in planting the perception among the public that BN was not the right choice.
“But, at the moment, there are many voters who are evaluating both sides, so PH cannot know for sure if the Malay tsunami will happen.”
In one of his studies in Johor, Azman said the sentiment among Johoreans was that they were loyal to the “institution” that took care of the Malays.
He said while many Johoreans were not happy with the representatives and candidates for GE14 in the state, they were still loyal to Umno.
“The thing is, they love Umno. They may dislike the candidates, but, to them, Umno is an institution that takes care of and fights for Malays. To them, this is more important.”