‘Left-leaning’ but govt-friendly, pundits predict new party Kuasa to split urban Malay votes from Pakatan
“I regard the sudden appearance of Kuasa as an attempt to snatch urban middle-class Malay votes away from PKR and Amanah and therefore from PH, leaving PH as ultimately a coalition dominated by non-Malays’’
(MMO) – The emergence of Parti Kuasa Rakyat (Kuasa) that promotes seemingly left-leaning policies but also touts a government-friendly stance looks set to split votes among urban Malay voters, political observers polled by Malay Mail have predicted.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) political science professor Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid said Kuasa is therefore likely to deprive critical support from the voting base of Pakatan Harapan (PH) components such as PKR and Parti Amanah Negara.
“I regard the sudden appearance of Kuasa as an attempt to snatch urban middle-class Malay votes away from PKR and Amanah and therefore from PH, leaving PH as ultimately a coalition dominated by non-Malays,’’ he told Malay Mail.
Concurring with Fauzi’s assertion is also a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs Oh Ei Sun, who said Kuasa will present yet another alternative for those inclined to vote for social democratic policies.
Oh further explained that Kuasa aims to appear to be more left-leaning compared to PH, but due to its government-friendly image, a vote for the former may as well be a vote for the ruling government.
“Kuasa is a vote-splitting party or vote splitter. Its idea is to present a viable alternative to voters who are inclined to support the opposition so if they are to support this party then they are not going to vote for PH, therefore, PH will lose some seats to this party or one of the incumbents (ruling government parties).
“It also represents an image of being more left-leaning than the Opposition who are slightly social-democratic so people might believe it and vote for the party and therefore you would accomplish the role of vote splitting,’’ he said.
