The PKR slaughter in Melaka is a vote-of-no-confidence against Anwar

(FMT) – The PKR wipeout at the Melaka state polls, losing all its 11 contests, is a big slap in the face for party president Anwar Ibrahim, says a political analyst.

James Chin of the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute attributed the party’s collapse to people losing faith in Anwar, being seen as the main person behind Pakatan Harapan “taking in the kataks (political frogs)”.

He was referring to the decision by Anwar and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu to field two former Umno members, Idris Haron and Noor Azman Hassan.

Chin described PKR”s loss of support as a very dangerous trend. “If the trend is repeated in the 15th general election which will be held next year, PKR will be wiped out,” he told FMT.

PKR had won 3 seats in the Melaka state assembly at the 2018 general election.

He said it was quite clear that DAP was the only real performer for PH. The party won 4 seats of 8 contested, while Amanah won 1 of 9 contested.

Chin said the other big loser was Perikatan Nasional, as Gerakan did not win a single seat, despite contesting in five, and PAS (none of eight) was also never a serious player in Melaka.

He added: “So, I think Muhyiddin is a bit troubled now.”

Another political analyst, Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, also said people might question Anwar’s leadership. “As we all know, even during the 14th general election, it was Wan Azizah who led PKR to victory,” he said.

However, he said people must accept that Melaka has always been BN’s stronghold. “It is only in the last general election that we saw Umno being reduced to only 13 seats in Melaka,” he said.

Lee said he did not believe that PKR would have another opportunity to regain power in Putrajaya as it did at the last general election.

“I strongly believe lots of Malaysians want to move beyond Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar or Lim Kit Siang and all the same faces and names,” he said.