IN the last general election (GE15), although Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the most seats as a coalition, but for a single party, PAS, a Perikatan Nasional (PN) component party, came out on top with 49 seats. Prior to GE15, it was widely accepted that Terengganu, Kelantan, Perlis, and Kedah were the only northern Malay heartlands where PAS and its brand of conservative Islam were most prevalent.
PAS was never expected to influence the federal politics or win more than 10% of the 222 parliament seats especially when we reflect to the last three national elections, where PAS had won only between 18 to 23 seats.
Outside their usual strongholds, they could only have managed to win if there had been a significant change in the voting patterns of both existing voters and, more importantly, new voters. In GE15 we have witnessed this change in voting pattern for PAS in all over the country. In Penang, for example, which is considered one of Malaysia’s most liberal states and has the country’s only Chinese chief minister, PAS have proudly won two seats. Notably, in Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat PAS have managed to force out Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter Nurul Izzah of PH. This particular parliamentary seat had been held by Anwar Ibrahim, his wife Wan Azizah and his daughter Nurul Izzah since 1986.
Early analytical reports indicate that new young voters supported the party strongly, although their turn up percentage was not as huge as other age categories. The political landscape in Malaysia is changing drastically. Political Islam has gained popularity in Malaysia, and the conservative religious politics of PAS are becoming more attractive and found audience in young and first-time voters.
The coalition (PN) contested for 180 parliamentary seats in the 15th general election. Bersatu contested the most seats in parliament (74), followed by PAS( 64), Gerakan (20) and associate members of Bersatu (11). Additionally, 116 state election seats were contested by the coalition in Perak, Pahang and Perlis states.
Statistics show that 60% of the six million new voters are Malays. While voters in their mid-20s to mid-30s tend to be conservative regardless of race, 18- to 21-year-olds voters are more looking forward to changes and are looking for candidates whose messages reflect the concerns of their generation.
In the past two years, there have been 14.4 million more TikTok users in Malaysia. While Facebook still tops the rankings with 21 million users, and Twitter has 4.4 million users. Analyst claimed that GE15 campaigns and methods, especially those targeting youths, were influenced by the shift to TikTok. They described this as one of the significant component factors of a large shift in the overall pattern.
Preliminary analysis shows that the wave of young voters and Malay voters getting their first-hand information from social media platforms such as TikTok was one of the main factors in PAS ‘s 49-seat victory.
With the appointment of Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, an unprecedented coalition of PH and Barisan National (BN) was formed as the ruling coalition. This also means that the role of checks and balances will rest mostly on the shoulders of the Perikatan Nasional MPs who will scrutinize all matters of the government in the parliament.
Looking forward, as part of Perikatan Nasional, PAS which have always been seen as a religious and conservative party shall prepare themselves as part of government in waiting and function diligently as the party who has the most seats in Dewan Rakyat. People are waiting anxiously on how the cleric-dominated party will contribute to the country especially on the welfare and economic issues post 15th General Election.
YB DR. USTAZ MUHAMMAD KHALIL ABDUL HADI
Chairman of the Central PAS International Affairs and External Relations Council
ADUN Batu Buruk – HARAKAHDAILY 4/12/2022
