MELAKA – Pakatan Harapan (PH) claimed the low voter turnout in the Melaka poll was among the main reasons for its humbling defeat, with the coalition now swiftly shifting its focus to the next general election.
In a press conference today, Melaka PH chief Adly Zahari said it was established that the coalition’s biggest challenge in the election was to convince as many people as possible to turn up to vote for it to have any chance of winning.
With less than 70% people casting their ballots, Adly said the defeat in Melaka was expected.
“It cannot be denied that from the start, we have been telling everyone that our hopes were in voter turnout being more than 70%. We also knew that the Covid-19 pandemic would affect the rate.
“Our biggest challenge has been sending our messages to the rakyat. Despite giving our all through social media, it was not enough. We will study (what went wrong),” he said.
Adly, who managed to defend his Bukit Katil seat, said the coalition will now go back to the drawing board and see what needs to be fixed before facing the general election, expected to be by next year.
PH chief whip coordinator Anthony Loke said the coalition’s focus now should be to convince voters who went out in droves to cast their ballots in the last general election to do the same for the next one.
“This is a huge challenge. If we look at the voters’ turnout this time, it fell quite considerably compared to the last election.
“This is among the factors that resulted in our failing to defend many of the seats that we won previously.”
Loke added that today’s result and low turnout rate proves that every single vote counts, in regard to determining whether or not a seat can be won by PH.
“I hope the PH leadership will study this issue and find a way to address the problem,” he said.
The Election Commission has yet to announce the official result for the Melaka election, but based on early counting, Barisan Nasional (BN) has secured at least a two-thirds majority in the state, and will form the new government.
Meanwhile, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu said among PH’s priorities moving forward is how to deliver its messages to rural voters, which typically comprise BN’s stronghold.
“If we look at today’s results, all the rural seats were won handsomely by BN. That is why we need to study and look at how we can improve our delivery system in these areas.” – The Vibes, November 20, 2021
