Veteran newsman warns of infighting in new Melaka alliances

A veteran newsman has warned of infighting in the new alliances for the upcoming Melaka polls, where Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) have joined forces and a pact has been reached between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Bersatu.

National journalism laureate A Kadir Jasin said PAS, which leads PN, was working with Umno with the ultimate goal of becoming the dominant Malay party.

On the other hand, he described Umno as “ageing” and “looking for a willing partner”.

“PAS is like an ageing suitor who doesn’t mind prancing with an ageing partner,” he said in a Facebook post on the Melaka election.

Kadir said PH and Bersatu meanwhile were working together again despite the latter being one of the main reasons for the collapse of the PH-led federal government in 2020.

“I wonder if PAS and Umno’s big dreams and even bigger talk of ‘Malay unity’, and PH-Bersatu’s ‘Melaka Rumah Kita’, will build a new ‘Kota Melaka’ or crumble like a sand castle on the Tanjong Bidara beach.

“But this dance between these new-found allies could turn out to be inter-pack aggression among hungry, desperate wolves,” he said.

PH is contesting 24 seats in the Melaka polls while its electoral partner Bersatu is vying for seven. They are set to clash in three seats.

On the other hand, BN has fielded 23 candidates while PN will contest the remaining five seats.

At the federal level, PH and BN are allies in the government, while Bersatu remains a component of PN, the opposition coalition.

A total of 687,697 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in Melaka. The Election Commission has set Nov 14 as polling day, with early voting on Nov 10.