YOURSAY | 'Following past state elections, PKR will be lucky to win a quarter.'

PKR gets 59 seats, hunkers down in the west, supporting role in east

Business First: Based on this report, 59 PKR seats are in danger. If we follow the outcome of the previous state elections, PKR will be lucky to end up winning a quarter of the seats contested. All I can say to all PKR supporters is, be prepared for disappointment.

What I think will happen and will really put us in uncharted territory is if Umno and DAP do okay at the state polls, while PKR crashes.

How will the state government be formed when essentially it would be an Umno-DAP alliance? Will all menteri besar/chief minister posts go to Umno except in Penang?

How will DAP navigate these uncharted waters? Will they maintain their original support base or work to be seen as MCA 2.0?

Oddly, this might be a bigger threat to the federal government. What happens at the state level if relations between two ideological opposites become untenable, for example on the issue of pardon for jailed former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Will Umno be tempted to join with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in some sort of alliance because to be seen with DAP would be untenable to them? What is clear is Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and PKR will continue to still claim the government is strong.

Either way, it would be goodbye to PKR in the long run and maybe hello to Muda.

DAP seats are safe. This can be seen not just in the 14th general election (GE14) but also in the state elections. DAP retains its support. If they lose, it is a marginal loss and usually due to voter turnout as many supporters work outside of their state or Malaysia.

It is surprising that the government under Anwar, which so many here in the comment section worship blindly, cannot even push through simple reforms like making postal voting more accessible.

It is for reasons like these - asking an internet user to apologise to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, expanding the role of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim), and the lack of resolve to address statelessness among people born and bred in Malaysia for decades - that tells me PKR will bear the brunt of the losses for being ineffectual. For being all talk and no action.

Why? Because the economy is not doing well for those on the ground. This, coupled with the lack of tangible reforms is a vote loser and your moderate supporters will have less motivation to vote.

PKR will do badly but not as badly as previously in Johor and Malacca. At the time, people were disappointed with PKR for producing frogs, denying the people’s mandate of GE14, and their exaggerated sense of self-importance.

Now they will do badly because having the chance to rule, they have overpromised and woefully under-delivered.

Apanama is back: Out of 245 seats with 9.7 million voters in six state elections, PKR could get only 59 seats (24 percent) while the balance of seats goes to Umno, DAP, and Amanah. DAP seats seem secure in the states it will contest.

However, PKR seats seem not that secure in some states. For example, of the 13 seats in Penang, two are on the island, while 11 are on the mainland. The 11 were won with marginal votes and it appears that PN is getting stronger after GE15.

The state seats under the parliamentary constituencies of Tasik Gelugor, Permatang Pauh, and Kepala Batas are not secure.

As for Umno seats, there is a possibility of protest votes among its members in Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu. Giving too many seats to Umno with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Umno president and deputy prime minister) as its head is risky.

Seats for Amanah are 50:50 and it depends on how the candidates convince the locals who could be strong PN supporters.

Checkmate: Harapan and BN have been in government for about seven months. Yes, they may not be perfect to everyone’s liking or satisfaction, and much improvement is needed.

But Bersatu and PAS had shown their true colours, especially with Muhyiddin as the prime minister. During his tenure, there were various lockdowns that caused much suffering, and tremendous loss of business, jobs, and income. There were cries of help especially from the low-income group.

Please ask yourself, would you be open to Bersatu and PAS returning to power? Furthermore, what good governance and sound economic policies have they enacted to move the country out of the doldrums while they were the government? Please name three and my lips will be sealed.

Just an ordinary guy: The government is far from perfect, but it is operating with one hand tied behind its back. The past seven months had been tough for Anwar to juggle between fulfilling Harapan’s manifesto and pleasing the other parties for stability.

If we are going to hold them accountable for this and weaken the government even further, then we are facing a bleak future with potentially a PN government takeover in the coming months.

Why can’t Harapan supporters see this? Why are so many of them willing to cut off their noses to spite their faces? The alternative is likely an Islamic state. Is that what you guys want? Because voting for Muda who has the same voter base will do just that.

It seems a lot of you aren’t thinking long-term enough and just voting based on emotions. But it’s a democracy and you’re free to do what you think is right. As I always said, you will get the government you deserve. Vote wisely, my fellow Malaysians.

Newday: I think PKR is being sensible with the number of seats they are contesting. Focus your resources on maintaining the status quo. You may not have much choice with your ‘unity’ government partners in the mix.

Past recent election results suggest your ambitions for more seats far outweighed the on-ground reality. Best wishes in retaining the current seats and make sure you help your partners along the way.

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