COMMENT | Universiti Utara Malaysia professor Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani may be right in saying that PAS is good only to spoil votes, but in a three-cornered fight between Umno, PAS, and Pakatan Harapan, I think Umno will lose.

To qualify my statement, it depends on whether former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad can do a good job in reaching out to the rural Malays. He and former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin should just focus on reaching the rural Malays, not the urban voters who have already made up their minds.

A changing political landscape

The game plan has changed. The rural Malays, who both Umno and PAS had a strong grip on in the past, now have to decide between Umno, PAS and Pakatan Harapan. Malay votes are split into three.

Even with PAS allying itself with Barisan Nasional, it is still a question of whether Umno or PAS will field its candidates. What if PAS breaks away from BN? It will leave a big hole in the ruling party.

In a three-cornered fight, the die-hard Umno supporters will support Umno; likewise with the PAS ardent supporters, who will still stick with PAS. The disillusioned Umno supporters will likely choose Pakatan Harapan for a change, with Mahathir now weighing on their voting pattern.

Like it or not, Pakatan Harapan attracts a wider spectrum of voters compared to Umno or the ailing ruling coalition. In West Malaysia, all three parties – Gerakan, MCA and MIC – have lost their flavours due to a lack of good leaders.

On the three-cornered fight again, we should not forget that PAS has also gone through a major split, and its grassroots now have a choice between the Islamic party and a more progressive Islamic party, Amanah, which has gained the respect of non-Muslims.

People like Mat Sabu, Khalid Abdul Samad, Dzulkefly Ahmad, Salahuddin Ayub and Mujahid Yusof Rawa, to name a few, are more likely to be accepted by the non-Muslim community compared to the late PAS president Nik Aziz Nik Mat and his former deputy Nasharudin Mat Isa. These were, after all, the faces of PAS during the last two general elections.

In Malay strongholds, most people will remember the red-shirt leader Jamal Md Yunos and the unrestrained ruckus that he created for a few months. People can see what Umno is capable of doing through the example set by Jamal, who is now set to contest for the position of Umno Youth chief...