Talk of the town: Aerial view of Selangor. There are 56 seats in the Selangor assembly, of which 31 are Malay-majority.
PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional voters are slowly warming up to Pakatan Harapan in Selangor, which will give the component parties under the unity government an advantage in retaining the state in the upcoming polls.
This trend is crucial given that previous studies, the most recent of which was conducted by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, had claimed that those who had supported Barisan in the 15th General Election (GE15) would not vote for Pakatan in Selangor.
Pakatan and Barisan had been rivals in GE15 but they are now allies in the federal-level unity government and are working together in the Selangor elections.
The ISEAS study speculated that Selangor could be a “swing state” and change hands due to Barisan voters “transferring” their votes to the opposition Perikatan Nasional instead of choosing Pakatan.
However, Pakatan and Barisan officials and a Malaysian polling outfit told The Star that recent programmes on the ground indicated that sentiments are shifting, especially among Malay-Muslim Barisan supporters.
Selangor Pakatan deputy chief Borhan Aman Shah said that a joint Pakatan-Barisan small-scale gathering in the Malay-majority seat of Sungai Panjang managed to get a good turnout from locals.
“The turnout was good; around 2,000 of the supporters came to see us, and that is a positive development since we are just warming up before the state polls,” said Borhan, of the Barisan-held constituency.
“When planning the event, we had no issues between Barisan and Pakatan in Selangor and this shows that both sides have put aside their egos to win the state election,” the former Tanjong Sepat state assemblyman said.
There are 56 seats in the Selangor assembly, of which 31 are Malay-majority. Perikatan has claimed in the past that they are confident of winning enough Malay-majority seats in order to form the state government.
Perikatan’s confidence is based on its unprecedented victory in GE15, where it captured six out of Selangor’s 22 parliamentary seats, all of which were Malay-majority constituencies.
Hisomuddin Bakar of the polling outfit Ilham Centre said their most recent survey among Malays in Selangor found that the majority of Barisan voters have accepted the unity government at the state level.
“But there is still a small group that is still confused about the cooperation between the two,” said Hisomuddin, the centre’s executive director.
“There were explanations by the top leadership on Barisan’s cooperation with DAP and PKR, but it was too technical for the people and the voters need answers that are simple to understand.”
Pakatan comprises PKR, DAP and Amanah, while Barisan is made up of Umno, MCA and MIC. PAS, Bersatu and Gerakan make up Perikatan.
A Selangor Umno leader Affifi Aris said that Barisan supporters are ready to support Pakatan but the latter must step up efforts to help the former.
“This is our first trial together (as a political pact), and Pakatan must work hard to clear the air on the accusations they made against Barisan and Umno,” said Affifi, who is Kapar division Umno youth chief.
“Umno voters are ready to vote for Pakatan but the coalition must ensure that their voters will cast their ballot for Barisan’s candidate,” he said.
To deepen cooperation between Pakatan and Barisan, Borhan of Selangor Pakatan said the state’s joint election machinery will be launched with matching colours on July 15.
“This will finally give the grassroots a sense of belonging when representing the unity government when campaigning. We need to show that we are practising what we preach at the grassroots,” he said.
