Bersatu's weakness exposed in Malacca polls, says deputy president

Nearly a month after the Malacca election, Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu has admitted that the party's two-seat showing revealed its weaknesses.

Speaking at the opening of Bersatu's fourth annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur today, the youth and sports minister said one of the party's weaknesses was its election machinery which was engaged in a "blame game".

According to Faizal (above), team spirit is weak and many lacked electoral knowledge but wanted to be a VIP.

"I want to be honest. In the early stages, many of my fellow leaders could smell the air of victory in Malacca. The acceptance of the people and voters to abah (party president Muhyiddin Yassin), I can describe that as extraordinary. We could feel the ‘positive acceptance’ of the people. 

"But day by day, we began to see our weaknesses and failures emerge," he said.

As the leader of the Malacca machinery, Faizal said he learnt significant lessons.

"Many 'pointed the finger' a lot, but didn't look at our contributions.

"We lack the DIY (do it yourself) spirit. We like to see other people do the work so we can easily blame them if things don't happen (as we want them to),” he added. 

Not electoral savvy enough 

Apart from that, Faizal touched on the view that Bersatu is not electoral savvy.

"We like to be VIPs but as I mentioned earlier, we need to get back to basics. There are two basics of electoral knowledge and I myself do both. The science of arranging chairs and the science of placing flags," he said.

Faizal pointed out that party members also liked to take a too simple and relaxed approach. 

“We always have fun with our own group. We went to Malacca but then spent time with our own supporters and we did not go down to the voters enough. Our engagement was lacking.

“The next weakness is pointing fingers and blaming the local machinery. We have to admit we are not strong everywhere. There are areas where we need the empowerment of friends from outside. 

"The spirit of togetherness must be there. Don't be too quick to make accusations and attacks. Take the time to look into the situation," he added. 

All is not lost

Faizal, however, reminded Bersatu members and leaders not to consider the defeat in Malacca as a bad omen for the party's political future.

"For Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional (PN), I see good acceptance among the people. Not only in Bemban and Sungai Udang where we won. We showed very good potential in several other areas as well such as Tanjung Bidara, Pantai Kundor and Serkam.

“We accept the fact that we have a lot to improve. But, there are those who allegedly mocked us and asked us to dissolve the party. 

"They forget that this party will not collapse upon insults, slander and swearing," he added.

Faizal insisted that although Bersatu and PN lost in 26 of the 28 seats in Malacca, there was proof of a wave of support for the party and its coalition partner PAS.

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