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PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (pix) should avoid calling snap elections just because Perikatan Nasional (PN) and his allies won in the last elections in Sabah.
Analysts are of the opinion that interpreting the victory in Sabah as a sign that the way is clear for victory at the national level could be wrong.
Analysts cited the strained relations between Umno and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), as well as the lower-than-expected support that each party component of the PN garnered as reasons why Muhyiddin should not give in to the temptation to seek a new term early.
They stressed that Sabah’s election was only a test to determine the level of support for Muhyiddin and the PN government.
Dr Jeniri Amir, Principal Investigator for the Malaysian Teachers Council, noted that before the snap elections can be held, the issue of seat allocation will need to be resolved.
“This issue has not yet been properly addressed, so there is no point going to the polls now,” he told the Sun yesterday.
He said the best way forward would be for the government to serve the remainder of its current five-year term.
Jeniri said the government will “probably” survive the full five years because it is in the interest of all partners to guarantee it. They will continue to work to achieve their collective goals, she added.
For the record, PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced last week that he now has the support of enough MPs to oust Muhyddin as head of government.
On the other hand, Jerniri said, Bersatu would be more at risk of losing in an early election.
Universiti Teknoloji Malaysia professor of geostrategy, Dr. Azmi Hassan, said that despite the victory, the truth is that the PN’s individual parties did not do as well as expected in Sabah.
He noted that Bersatu, of which Muhyiddin is president, won only 30% of the seats he contested, while only 44% of the candidates Umno presented came out victorious.
“Neither party did very well. It is certainly not in the PN’s interest to seek a new mandate now, ”she said.
To top it all, he noted, Umno President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had previously made the point that support for the PN came not from Umno but from individual MPs.
“Umno can play hard at the national level after their engagement in Sabah, but they are not interested in having early elections either,” he said.
Azmi said that Umno does not trust Bersatu because the latter had allegedly run independent candidates in districts that had been assigned to Umno.
He said Umno feared the same could happen in national elections.
Academic professor Dr. Barjoyai Bardai said PN’s narrow victory in Sabah shows that there is work to be done to win wider support.
“It will be difficult for Muhyiddin to get a clear majority now,” he added.
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