KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — DAP’s claim that a 15-per cent switch in Malay support could allow Pakatan Harapan to win Kelantan and Terengganu was a pollyannish notion, said Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak.
The communications and multimedia minister questioned how the Opposition pact would secure such a shift in Malay support, adding that this did not occur even at the height of Umno’s internal crisis in 1988.
A power struggle then between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah caused the latter to form Semangat 46, which then joined other Opposition parties to challenge the former and Barisan Nasional.
The ensuing contest in Election 1990 led to Kelantan falling to PAS, but federal power remained with BN.
“The reduction in Malay support was just 2.4 per cent compared to Election 1986. Semangat 46 only won 8 of the 61 parliamentary seats it contested,” Salleh wrote on his blog, adding that the party also won just 19 state seats.
Salleh said Election 1990 was a more accurate comparison to the current political landscape, drawing similarities between Semangat 46 and PPBM as offshoots of Umno formed by malcontent ex-leaders.
Attempts to predict a swing in Malay support due to any rifts in Umno were consequently simplistic, he added.
DAP’s Lim Kit Siang made the claim yesterday, citing research by the party’s Serdang MP, Ong Kian Ming.
This was in addition to a previous claim that a 10-per cent swing in Malay votes along with a 5-per cent change in non-Malay support would allow Pakatan Harapan to become the federal government.
