Voters would punish Umno for forcing GE15 amid Covid-19 pandemic, say analysts
Umno would further lose popularity if it were to trigger a premature 15th general election during the Covid-19 pandemic, said political analysts.
(MMO) – Senior researcher at the O2 Malaysia think-tank, Anis Anwar Suhaimi, told Malay Mail Umno appeared to be pre-empting the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines in Malaysia and taking advantage of unfavourable views on the Perikatan Nasional government.
However, he said Malaysians have already been made aware that the Umno push was based on its dissatisfaction with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) on issues such as government positions and the continued criminal prosecutions of Umno leaders.
“Therefore, Umno’s popularity will continue to dwindle among voters, while PN (Perikatan Nasional) will continue to be favourable. Still, Umno’s chances in the election are far from over if they are directly fighting PH due to voters’ clear segmentation,” he said.
An O2 Malaysia survey last year found 63.5 per cent of respondents in favour of PN remaining the government of the day, with nearly three in four Barisan Nasional supporters also holding this view.
Anis said voters could also respond to a premature general election by snubbing the poll in protest, which would add further uncertainty to Umno’s chances of regaining power, citing elections in Spain, Austria, France and Taiwan where turnouts were as low as 30 per cent.
“We can describe this as a double-edged sword for Umno-BN as the largest party, having a comparative advantage for grassroots members but could prove detrimental,” he added.
