The livelihood of Felda settlers and the performance of Felda Global Ventures (FGV) may decide Umno's fate in the next general election, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man says.

He said the mismanagement of Felda and FGV were taking a toll on Felda settlers, who form a substantial portion of Umno's constituents.

One of the main grievances of Felda settlers, Tuan Ibrahim said, was the poor performance of FGV in the stock market, which was priced at RM1.68 per share last Friday, down 37.8 percent from the IPO price of RM4.45 in 2012.

"FGV shares can be categorised as the worse performing share in the agriculture sector.

"Surely we all still remember, when FGV was launched, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak touted it as the biggest IPO in Asia and the second largest in the world after Facebook for that year," he added.

Despite all the fanfare, Tuan Ibrahim said, Felda settlers ended up in disappointment as FGV was affected by low commodity prices and poor management.

"For Felda settlers, it is hard for them to come to terms with what happened with Felda Iffco Gida Sanayi, a Turkish company where FGV owns a 50 percent stake, which suffered RM57 million in losses," he said, adding that this added to FGV's third quarter losses.

He said there was a promise for a forensic audit on this failed venture, but there has been no update or news on whether anyone has been held accountable.

Auditor-General's report

Closer to home, Tuan Ibrahim said the National Audit Department also identified mismangement of Felda, such as in the issuance of contracts for "light detection and ranging (Lidar)" surveying tools worth RM148.2 million by someone who was unauthorised to do so.

"Apart from this, the broadband project and three others had caused (Felda) losses due to weaknesses in implementation and monitoring.

"The performance of Isa Samad as Felda chairperson does not bring confidence to the settlers. Felda is not only mismanaged under his leadership, but the company is also facing problems with lower crop yield, failure to replant new crops and failure to monitor its subsidiaries," he added.

Tuan Ibrahim said there does not appear to be any concrete plan in place to improve the performances of Felda and FGV, and that this would ultimately affect Umno in the next general election.

During the Umno general assembly this month, a delegate from Pahang had warned the party that problems faced by Felda settlers were increasingly pronounced.

Among others, Shahaniza Shamsuddin said, there was a delay in Felda's payment for oil palm and the housing problems faced by youths in Felda settlements.

Shahaniza also pointed out that during the Rompin by-election in 2015, BN did not perform well in voting districts where Felda settlers made up the majority.