PH-BN, at the top in Putrajaya but irrelevant in Terengganu as polls dust settles

While Barisan Nasional (BN) was once the dominant bloc in Terengganu, the results of the latest election last weekend where Perikatan Nasional (PN) made a clean sweep of the legislative assembly indicate an overwhelming rejection on the part of voters and the end of its influence in the east coast state. 

At the 11th general election in 2004, BN won a convincing 28 of the 32 seats in Terengganu's legislative assembly. 

But its performance subsequently went into decline, culminating in its loss of every seat contested at the Aug 12 polls despite its cooperation with federal partner Pakatan Harapan (PH). 

An Umno grassroots leader who spoke to MalaysiaNow on condition of anonymity said the results of the election showed a mass rejection by voters of BN in the state. 

"It's a terrible defeat because we have lost not once, but three times in a row: GE14, GE15 and this latest round of state elections," he said. 

"And it's not that we lost by a narrow margin. We did not win a single seat in Terengganu." 

He proposed a leadership reshuffle in order to restore confidence in BN, saying that "old leaders" including Terengganu BN chairman Ahmad Said should make way for new blood. 

"Ahmad Said should step down," he said. "He has no more excuse, given Umno's huge losses." 

BN had tried to stage a comeback from its GE15 losses but instead suffered an even greater defeat at last weekend's polls, losing every seat it contested, many by a significant margin. 

Umno also failed to defend areas seen as traditional strongholds such as Telemung, Kijal, Seberang Takir and Hulu Besut, with big guns like Ahmad and former menteri besar Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman conceding defeat. 

The Kijal seat, held by Ahmad since the 1990s, fell to PN whose candidate Razali Idris claimed victory with a margin of 3,758 votes. 

Telemung was the only seat where competition appeared tight, with the BN candidate losing by just 295 votes. 

The BN-PH alliance was also defeated in the by-election for Kuala Terengganu, where PAS incumbent Ahmad Amzad Hashim claimed victory again with a majority of 47,266 – more than its margin at GE15. 

The grassroots leader attributed BN's defeat in part to internal party issues at the state and federal levels. 

"At the central level, these issues are related to the grassroots' frustration with the leadership of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi," he said. 

"The grassroots are actually against the decision to work with PH and DAP." 

Candidate problems

At the state level, meanwhile, he said the grassroots were unhappy with the move to nominate candidates who had already been rejected by voters. 

He said the conflict had ultimately affected not just the grassroots, but also the hardcore voters and those on the fence who were disappointed with BN. 

Political analyst Yusri Ibrahim agreed that the grassroots' rejection of BN was of a significant level. 

Yusri, of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, said BN had also failed to rally the support of the youth. 

"If we look at the election results, the voting channels reserved for young voters – 4, 5 and 6 – had the least action," he said. 

In the PH camp, Terengganu chief Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad attributed the defeat to Umno's "big brother" attitude and a lack of respect for its coalition partners. 

He said such mentalities had to be scrapped if the coalition wanted to make a comeback in the next election. 

He also said that the wrong strategy had been deployed in matching candidates with constituencies. 

While Terengganu was a PAS stronghold, he said, his camp had been optimistic of winning several seats given the right strategy and careful planning. 

"The analogy would be a big hospital which, despite having many doctors, does not necessarily possess the best specialists to deal with certain ailments. 

"This hospital would still need the expertise of specialists which other medical centres might have, even though they are smaller.

"Here, it is necessary to acknowledge certain advantages of other coalition partners in facing voters in urban areas and mixed constituencies, without adopting a big brother attitude," he said in a statement. 

Kamarul also said that BN had originally agreed that PH's strength lay in urban areas such as Bandar and Chukai, adding however that this was not realised in negotiations for the distribution of seats ahead of the polls. 

He said this was the biggest mistake of all, and that the alliance had lost any chance of victory. 

"The closest and most relevant example would be the choice of a good candidate for the urban and mixed seat of Kota Lama, where the candidate from Amanah managed to win the seat which had been dominated by PAS for more than 30 years," he said, referring to the only seat won by PH in Kelantan. 

"Hafidzah Mustaqim was not a local candidate, but with a good strategy, PH won the seat in the Kota Bharu parliamentary constituency.

"If the same had been done in Kuala Terengganu, victory could have been achieved."