PH-Bersatu’s Bemban pact driven by electoral considerations, says analyst

Pakatan Harapan’s decision to leave the Bemban seat to Bersatu in the upcoming Melaka election was influenced by electoral considerations, particularly Bersatu’s stronger appeal among Malay voters in the constituency, an analyst says.

Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said DAP had finished a distant third in Bemban in the last state election — behind both MCA and eventual winner, Bersatu.

He said Bersatu was hoping to reclaim the constituency from its former assemblyman, Dr Yadzil Yaakub, who won the seat in 2021 before defecting to Wawasan.

“That is the strategic reason why PH is giving way to Bersatu in this case. Bersatu hopes to draw Malay votes there to cause an upset,” he told FMT.

Azmi said the arrangement could help PH tap into Malay support that might otherwise be beyond its reach.

“If DAP contests there, Malay votes will be very hard to come by,” he said.

However, he said it remained uncertain whether PH would gain politically from cooperating with Bersatu, given the party’s role in the Sheraton Move, which led to the collapse of the PH government in 2020.

Gauging grassroots response

James Chin of the University of Tasmania said the move would also enable PH leaders to gauge grassroots sentiment towards an alliance with Bersatu before deciding whether to pursue broader cooperation.

“If the supporters don’t create huge problems, then they will know they can go ahead with cooperating with Bersatu in GE16,” he said.

Chin said resentment over the Sheraton Move remained strong among PH supporters, many of whom still hold Bersatu responsible for the collapse of the coalition’s previous government.

However, he said the arrangement was unlikely to affect relations within the coalition, as DAP leaders had agreed to allow Bersatu to contest the seat.

Chin said any opposition to the arrangement was likely to remain localised and unlikely to affect cooperation within the broader coalition.

On Oct 28, PH election director Amirudin Shari urged all component parties to respect the coalition’s collective decision to allow Bersatu to contest the Bemban seat in the Nov 14 Melaka state election.

The Selangor menteri besar said the decision was premised on an understanding between PH and Bersatu and had been made collectively.

The Bemban arrangement drew objections from former Melaka DAP chairman Damian Yeo, who said he would rather leave politics than support the move, citing what he described as Bersatu’s “past betrayals”.

DAP grassroots members in Bemban also expressed disappointment that the party was not nominated to contest for the seat, especially given their longstanding efforts to build support for the coalition there.

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