MELAKA: The findings of an early post-mortem of the 15th General Election (GE15) have shown that PAS received support from more than just tahfiz students, says Datuk Seri Idris Haron.
"Even the 'cool kids' with a liberal mindset also voted for Perikatan Nasional," he said in an interview on Saturday (Dec 10).
The former Melaka Chief Minister said that it was wrong for political analysts to blame students of tahfiz (religious schools) by claiming that they had voted according to religious and racial lines.
He gave an example by saying that only 5% of former tahfiz students voted in the Tangga Batu parliamentary constituency during GE15 on Nov 19.
Idris said the preliminary post-mortem reports from the grassroots show that the support from young and senior voters had led to unprecedented PAS victories in the state.
He added that the mindset of Melaka youth differs from those in Terengganu, Kelantan, Perlis and Kedah.
"There is a need for an in-depth analysis why PAS under the Perikatan Nasional coalition could make inroads into the state without blaming the tahfiz students," said Idris.
He added that social media was a factor, especially TikTok.
"The massive swing among existing and young voters was also due to the failure of Barisan to understand the sentiments of the grassroots and holding an election during the monsoon season,” said Idris.
"The voters in rural seats opted for Perikatan to teach Barisan a lesson. This is not due to voting patterns based on religion," he added.
Idris said Pakatan was also not popular among the rural electorate due to their performance during their 22 months in power.
"However, I am confident that the perception against Pakatan will change with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the helm," he said.
Idris said the grassroots are happy that Anwar has not given any ministerial positions to those categorised under the "court cluster" except for those from Umno.
"Umno is now a major power broker and Anwar has to focus on grappling with global economic headwinds and geopolitical tensions," he added.
PAS emerged victorious for the first time in the state on Nov 19 when it won two parliamentary seats on a Perikatan ticket.
Tangga Batu MP Bakri Jamaluddin won with a majority of 8,849 votes after defeating incumbent Rusnah Aluai of Pakatan along with Barisan's Datuk Lim Ban Hong. Ghazali Abu of Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) and independent Mohammad Shahril Mahmood.
In Jasin, Perikatan Zulkifli Ismail (PAS) also won with a slim majority of 322 by dramatically knocking down heavyweight Datuk Roslan Ahmad, Datuk Harun Mohamed of Pakatan, and Datuk Mohd Nasir of GTA.
