‘Zahid as PM’ narrative won’t sway many voters: analysts

KUALA LUMPUR – Political observers are unconvinced that the opposition’s narrative that Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will be the prime minister if Umno regains federal power will have any significant impact on voters’ sentiments.

However, the analysts said the “warning” on Zahid will only likely influence Pakatan Harapan (PH) supporters and fence-sitters from urban constituencies, even if there is truth to the claims of possible maneuvering within Umno to push the president for the government’s top post. 

Beyond this, the analysts believe more must be done by the opposition coalition to capture the hearts of other constituents, particularly in the Malay heartlands.

Speaking to The Vibes, Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun noted that there have been discreet hints in recent months that Umno might name Zahid as prime minister ahead of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The academic said the assumption that progressive-thinking Malaysians would be repulsed by such a proposition likely motivated PH to use it as political fodder over its rival.

However, there are at least as many, if not more conservative Malaysians who might actually welcome such a proposition.

“After all, Zahid is warmly welcomed by Umno grassroots, and these grassroots are in tune with the ground sentiments, especially in the rural areas,” he said today when contacted.

Oh added that at most, the opposition’s narrative of Zahid being the prime minister could only consolidate its base among the progressive voters.

On Saturday, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed that Zahid will lead the government in the event of a Barisan Nasional (BN) victory in the looming 15th general election, a view that is similarly shared by several other opposition lawmakers. 

However, a day later, both Zahid and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin refuted the claims, insisting that the party’s stance of Ismail Sabri as prime ministerial candidate still remains. 

It is learnt that 151 out of 192 Umno divisions have also recently voiced their backing for Ismail Sabri as prime minister.

Despite this, a number of DAP leaders refused to buy into the assertion, citing the recent Johor election – when Umno’s choice of menteri besar was not sworn into the position – as an illustration of how an individual that has been nominated by the party may not necessarily take up the post. 

Focus should also be on policies

International Islamic University Malaysia academician Rabi’ah Aminudin similarly believes that the narrative to pin the attention on Zahid’s supposed prime ministerial candidacy is unlikely to gain much traction beyond core PH supporters and fence-sitters of certain demographics.

The assistant professor said this strategy is not too dissimilar from 2018, when then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak – who was mired in allegations of corruption involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd – became the target of the opposition and was made the “fall guy”.

However, she said the current situation is slightly different, in that the political attacks against Zahid were not as focused and concentrated as they were against Najib.

“I think this narrative might work for certain demographics and groups where there is fear of Zahid becoming the prime minister. But in areas with a strong Umno grassroots presence, this will not work. I believe this strategy is probably aimed at the fence-sitters in certain areas.”

Drawing further comparisons to the 2018 election, Rabi’ah said PH is also currently lacking in terms of promoting policies and programmes that it will offer to the rakyat in its bid to wrest Putrajaya.

I haven’t really seen PH come with strong rebuttals in terms of policies. Today, it appears they are trying to ensure voter turnout is high to prevent a landslide victory for BN. But we have not seen any strong discourse on policies.

“If you look at 2018, much more concrete policies were announced, particularly in the manifesto. In 2022, we have yet to see this from PH, although I hope that this will be included in the coming manifesto.

“But to be fair to PH, BN hasn’t really done that too, other than some populist announcements to reduce toll rates and writing off debts for certain groups.” – The Vibes, October 19, 2022