KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Years of enmity between grassroots supporters of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) meant the coalitions using their own logos was their best strategy to win as many seats as possible in upcoming state elections, analysts suggested.
Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, associate director of political risk and government affairs consultancy Vriens & Partners, said that PH and BN’s federal-level alliance did not mean that all supporters on the ground have accepted the matter.
“Having a unified logo complicates matters in states such as Penang, where BN has traditionally been seen as the enemy.
“It is unsurprising that Zahid himself stated that not all PH-BN states may be able to implement a unity government formula,” he said, in reference to Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Shazwan also said that, for now, it would be better for each coalition to avoid contesting for the same seats, and run their campaigns separately.
Last Wednesday, Zahid confirmed that BN would be using its own logo in all six states that are due for an election this year.
When asked about this the next day, PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution said that BN using its own logo was a “non-issue” as it has its own component parties to look after, much like PH.
Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research (NASR) senior fellow Azmi Hassan said that the BN logo would also be better received in Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan — due to the perceived negative sentiment towards PH component DAP and by extension the pact, there.
“I presume that BN-Umno will be given the major task to win over these three states.
“It also doesn’t make sense for BN to use a PH logo or a joint logo because they are not part of each other, they are just working together in the federal government coalition,” he said.
Meanwhile, Universiti Sains Malaysia political science professor Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid said that it was also too soon to tell how long PH and BN would remain allies, adding that the current power shift in Melaka would be an interesting test case on the matter.
“If it’s true, as Umno claims, that the change we see supposedly reflects the changes at the federal level, then will a new Melaka exco line-up have a place for former chief minister Adly Zahari?
“So long as developments at the federal level do not filter down to the state level, speaking of contesting elections on a common logo is futile,” he said.
Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh, who was sworn in as the new Melaka chief minister last Friday, has promised to submit the new exco line-up proposal to Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam on Wednesday. He has so far not revealed the names included in the list.
PH has allied itself with BN and other coalitions — Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah — to deny Perikatan Nasional from taking over Putrajaya in the 15th general election.
In return, the state governments of Selangor, Pahang and Melaka have reflected the coalition composition of the federal government.
