Want to counter Umno-PAS couple? Provide better governance, pundits tell Pakatan

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 ― Faced with a formal alliance between Umno and PAS, political observers said Pakatan Harapan's (PH) future depends on its ability to provide a better government than the one it has inherited.

Former Umno MP Mohamed Tawfik Ismail told Malay Mail that despite the “marriage of convenience” between Umno and PAS, any impact on the ruling coalition's ability to convince voters lies in its ability to govern well, which he still finds questionable.

“What unites [Umno and PAS] now is a common enemy: Dr Mahathir and his alliance with DAP. PAS also dislikes Amanah and many in Umno are wary of Anwar and PKR. So both have a reason to fight together,” he said, referring to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“PH can only counter them if it shows itself to be a better government which till now it hasn’t done. So the fault is as much PH’s own doing as it is the unification of two unlikely partners. In fact both sides comprise unlikely partners and both face rocky marriages,” said Tawfik.

He also observed that political marriage of convenience tend to be rocky, posing questions on the long-term sustainability of the Umno-PAS alliance due to different basic political ideologies and grudges among grassroot members especially in the east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu.

“Can Umno accept PAS’ ideal of an Islamic state? Can PAS accept the Umno’s ideal of an economically advanced, educated Malay?

“It will be very difficult to unite old foes at the grassroots, especially in the east coast where the practice of calling each other infidels has divided families and communities.

“It’s been going on for a long time, more than four or more generations, so wounds are deep and it would be difficult to patch up,” observed Tawfik.

Touching on how this will impact the upcoming Rantau by-election which will see Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, who is also known as Tok Mat, defending his seat, Tawfik foresees Umno having a tougher time when compared to the Semenyih by-election.

He predicts an interesting match as there are more non-Malay voters there which will create an impact on Umno as their stance is being seen as alienating non-Malay supporters while PH will see a split in the Malay votes.

Meanwhile, Perdana School's Azmi Hassan agreed with Tawfik that PH needs to buck up in terms of governance and also in rallying Malay support.

The associate professor said even more dangerous for the current administration if they remain ineffectual in governance by the 15th general election (GE15), since they may also lose the urban Malay support on top of the rural Malays.

“With the current situation of government difficulties in managing the nation I think come GE15 not only the rural Malays will support the Umno-PAS coalition but most probable the urban Malays will have change of heart by not voting PH.

“With the latest concrete cooperation between Umno and PAS I think the government need to work harder to convince the voters that they are much  better on managing the nation's wealth compared to Barisan Nasional,” said Azmi.

The academic also disagreed with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's observation that the Umno-PAS collaboration is not effective in the general election when compared to by-elections due to the previous GE14 results.

“Even though Tun said that the cooperation between these two parties will not work effectively in a GE compared to a by election, I disagree with that observation since GE14 results clearly demonstrate that the Malays especially in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah are behind them,” he said.

However, he conceded that it would be very difficult for Umno-PAS to win Putrajaya if it only has the support of the Malays.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Kartini Aboo Thalib Khalid that by combining their forces, Umno and PAS are sending a strong message of unity to all Malay voters which will have an impact on the Rantau by-election but she believes that PH will have a counter strategy against this.

“Umno-PAS official alliance … could be dangerous to PH because the symbol of unity is a strong message to all Malay voters to put their differences and come as one.

“It may affect Rantau but I believe PH will come out with their own counter strategies. The future of PH is really depending on how strong the alliance in PH ― can they work and wheel the country together? Can PH show serious action towards their manifesto?

“Only PH has the answer,” said the associate professor.