INTERVIEW | BN may have been battered in recent general elections but Umno remains the most formidable political party in the country.

However, in Kedah, Bersatu deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir believes Umno to be a more vulnerable target than PAS, which has vowed to contest in all seats in the state.

He explained that this was due to the fact that many in Bersatu were former Umno members who know very well how Umno operates.

"I know it might sound a bit strange because just now we say we feel more confident in the seats Umno is contesting. That's because I personally know the seats and people better, I know what Umno is going to be doing.

"The strength Bersatu has is that we are able to draw Umno's traditional votes away from them, even if we can get 25 to 30 percent, that should be enough to reduce their votes and actually win the seat," said Mukhriz in an interview with Malaysiakini.

As for PAS, the former Kedah menteri besar said the goal will be to minimise the number of opposition votes going to the Islamist party.

To this end, Bersatu had recruited Anak Bukit assemblyperson Amiruddin Hamzah, who is also the Kedah opposition leader. Amiruddin quit PAS in November last year.

"Having Amiruddin (photo in blue shirt) in Bersatu has proven to be such a huge positive factor because since then we have seen a new phenomenon of PAS members joining Bersatu. Before this, it's always joining Umno."

Mukhriz conceded that the imminent multi-cornered fights in Kedah would mean that any party that wins will do so with a slim majority.

"Considering we are a new party, whatever we can do to pull away votes from Umno and then combine with those that have left PAS (and) I'm hopeful that the non-Malay votes will continue to be at an 80 percent high, then we should be able to win those seats," he said.

BN, Pakatan Harapan and PAS are set to contest in all of the 36 state seats and 15 parliamentary seats in Kedah.

Pundits have now and again said that a multi-cornered fight would almost always see BN emerging victorious.

However, Mukhriz argues that PAS, separated from the main opposition bloc, has seen support for the party fallen, based on internal surveys.

"We have a good sense that PAS grassroots members, even those who do not see themselves migrating to Amanah and still remain in PAS, have a problem agreeing with and even understanding what (PAS president) Abdul Hadi Awang is doing.

PAS motives ‘suspect’

Citing the "180-degree" turns purportedly made by the top PAS leadership against Umno, Mukhriz said one cannot help but to wonder what the Islamist party's intent is.

"When they say they want to contest in all seats and yet they don't expect to win so much. So what's the point of contesting in these seats apart from helping Umno to win?

"This is why PAS members themselves are suspicious of their political moves.

This is why Mukhriz believes that it would be Bersatu as opposed to PAS that will be riding on the "Malay tsunami" if this were to occur.

"Because first of all the rakyat understand that PAS doesn't seem serious about wanting to run the government. They are not going into the election with the intent to form a government.

"It's quite clear to everyone they are just going there almost for the sake of contesting."

Mukhriz also could not help but label the party as opportunistic in response to its statement that it would contribute its seats to whoever that forms the government.

"It means they are being unprincipled, how do you campaign like that, what do you say about your rivals? I think that's the main issue about PAS.

"We don't really feel so threatened by them. From the feedback we get from PAS members themselves, they said this time around they will vote for Harapan.

"Going by that we are cautiously confident, that we will be able to draw away the votes that have been traditionally going to PAS," he said.

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Meanwhile, asked whether he was confident of Bersatu's ally and PAS splinter party Amanah's chances in the general election after it suffered defeat in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections, Mukhriz pointed out how the circumstances were vastly different.

"We were still moving under the Save Malaysia movement, Amanah was still a new party and Bersatu was not even around at the time.

"But since then the people have started to know all four parties and that all of us are fighting for the same thing.

"So whether it is Amanah, DAP, PKR or Bersatu contesting, we aim to use one symbol," he said.

Bersatu was formed in September 2016 and became Harapan's newest addition when it joined the coalition in March 2017.

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