Sentiment for change among people favours Pakatan Harapan – analysts

KUALA LUMPUR: The sentiment of wanting to try a new government is among factors that led the people in five states to vote for Pakatan Harapan on Wednesday's 14th General Election (GE14), and marking the end of Barisan Nasional (BN) rule in the country, except in some states.

Political analysts opined that current issues, such as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the high living cost, also contributed to the shift in the people's more than 60-year support from Barisan Nasional (BN).

Cluster head of the Political, Security and International Affairs, National Council of Professors, Prof Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak said some of the issues raised by the people had been on going for three years because of failure by the BN government to provide convincing answers.

"This shift is possibly on the sentiment of wanting to try for five years a change in the government, and also the role of the social media in helping to change the people's perception that it favoured Pakatan Harapan," he said when contacted by Bernama here yesterday.

He said a Malay tsunami happened during GE14, although not massive, but enough to topple BN.

In GE14, the PH alliance, comprising PKR, DAP, Amanah and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), whose registration has been revoked by the Registrar of Societies, obtained a simple majority in Parliament by winning 113 seats, which allowed it to form a new government.

Besides maintaining Penang and Selangor, the alliance also captured Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Perak, while in Kedah and Sabah, the government has yet to be ascertained.

Only Pahang and Perlis remain under BN.

Another political analyst, Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian opined that the strong anti-BN sentiment among the people made them reject anything done by the coalition and its leader, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, including fielding credible candidates, continued to be rejected by the people.

“This is the phenomenon of the people's tsunami, involving various groups that reject anything linked to BN, including former elected representative who had served their constituencies well in Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Johor,"he said.