YOURSAY Much reduced majority shows voter sentiment is going against it.

Voter sentiments on Najib’s rule 'inconclusive'

Prudent: A 40 percent loss of Malay support post GE13 in an Umno stronghold is a double whammy i.e. a double tsunami.

Even if Umno 'supporters' deliberately did not vote, it is still a massive erosion of Malay support and in an Umno stronghold despite the full force of Umno-BN's election machinery and all the blandishments.

If faced with the prospect of even half of that erosion of Malay support i.e. 20 percent in GE14, the crooks will flee the country well before GE14.

The Chinese voters will be sure to note this, as 40 percent erosion of Malay support is very, very significant. There is no way Umno-BN can get back Chinese support if its own Malay base is turning against it. Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad managed this in 1999 by false promises to Suqui. The same trick cannot work again.

Next to watch is PKR’s Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s margin of victory in Permatang Pauh, whether it will confirm the erosion of Malays support for Umno-BN.

Furthermore, one would expect that the death of Jamaluddin Jarjis would arouse the sympathy factor in favour of Umno-BN. But not only was there no sympathy, instead there was a backlash amounting to a tight slap to Umno-BN.

Umno-BN seems to have lost the emotional support of the Malays. This should put it in desperate straits for GE14, unless it changes drastically.

PAS cannot claim increased support percentage-wise is due to hudud since both Umno-BN and PAS support hudud. The increase in PAS' voters support can only be due to GST, corruption and the continuing link to Pakatan.

If the 40 percent loss of Malay support is repeated in other constituencies, the crooks will take a flight out of Malaysia well before GE14.

Bystander: I would interpret the over 40 percent reduced majority is a referendum that the people of Rompin are not happy with GST and the ruling government.

Notwithstanding the lower turnout, we must base on percentage across the board which also corresponds with the percentage of the turnout.

Considering Rompin has been BN's fortress for the past many general elections, the drastic drop in the majority should ring a very loud bell unless their hearing has been muted.

RKR: What kind of analysis is this? Note that PAS in 2013 and now received almost the same number of votes. Only Umno's votes have reduced compared with 2013. So it is clear Umno is losing traction in its own stronghold. It must be the Najib Abdul Razak factor.

Pemerhati: Since there was a drastic drop in the number of votes cast in 2015 when compared to 2013, a fairer method of comparing the support for Umno and PAS would be to calculate the percentage of votes obtained by each party, instead of looking at the absolute numbers.

In 2013, Umno got about 67 percent of the vote while PAS got about 33 percent. In 2015 PAS’ performance improved as it got about 39 percent of the vote while Umno’s performance worsened as its share of the vote reduced to about 61 percent.

Dont just talk: The Rompin by-election result is a foregone conclusion since it is a BN stronghold and except in Kelantan, PAS has never been the favourite to win.

The reason is very obvious, as PAS leaders and Ulama are good only at hudud and if not for its partnership with Pakatan, PAS would lose in most urban and sub-urban areas.

PAS have many moderate, intellectual leaders but sadly, they have been overshadowed by the ulama, who should remain as religious teachers instead of being politicians.

Anti Sarkis: Whether it's by-election or general election, BN won this. Accept the fact that people still support the government.

Basically: One Chinese who spoke to me today said between Umno and PAS she'd vote Umno. And she totally bought Wanita MCA chief Heng Seai Kie's pitch that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is good, as it taxes the Malays unlike before.

So racist politics still trumps bread and butter. Then again, serves PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang right. This is a sign of how he will fare as PAS president in GE14.

Slumdog: As BN had won the Rompin by-election, now everybody will be able to understand the GST. This was the brilliant conclusion according to Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob before the election.

Pisasu 7: All the analyses are rubbish, Umno just lost its majority owing to GST and Najib, PAS still lost because people didn't want their hands to be chopped off especially. the Chinese there, not because they love MCA.

Wsoi: If Rompin Chinese voters are now against PAS, what about the Chinese voters in Selangor? PAS in Selangor can only maintain seven seats maximum in GE14.

These analysts are lazy buggers. Talk with facts. Put up data on those who voted by age, sex, race, education, and make meaningful inferences from there. Also lay down the data on "not voting" voters by same demography.

Only then can we see some trends and possible future inclinations. It’s a clear cut case that BN is losing the confidence of the voters with its smaller majority. Malays are obviously affected by the GST effect. Laymen can see this, analysts seem to ignore.

Don't crucify my birth country: The missing faces of both Najib and Hadi reflected on one thing - they were 'rejects' unsuitable for display. The results of this Rompin by-election confirms this.

Goose: The absent voters would be from both PAS and BN earlier supporters. If PAS retained the same number of votes of GE13, it could mean that PAS got some 20 percent of its votes from earlier BN supporters.

Is this not an indication of rejection of GST by those voters? Hudud has nothing to do with those voting for PAS as both PAS and BN support hudud.

NoBN4me: The lower turnout did not affect PAS as it maintained its 14,000+ votes obtained in 2013. The 12 percent who did not turn up and vote affected Umno. Cannot see how Idea's analyst can conclude that the level of trust for PAS has significantly dropped.

Msian1st: Some once-Umno supporters didn’t want to vote for PAS. So they just refused to vote.

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