BN to contest all 21 seats in Malacca polls, Zahid says 'blue wave' coming

BN will defend all the seats it previously won in the upcoming Malacca state election, said its chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The coalition won 21 of 28 seats in the Malacca legislative assembly during the 2021 state polls.

The Umno president said that the coalition decided not to give up any of its seats to other parties.

"Of the 21 seats won by BN in Malacca, the chief minister informed me that he is determined to defend all," Zahid said, referring to Ab Rauf Yusoh, who is also the state BN chairperson.

"We have made it clear that the seats we won will not be shared with any party," the rural and regional development minister was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times after the ministry's monthly assembly in Putrajaya.

However, the deputy prime minister added that any form of cooperation would only be considered if negotiations were conducted in good faith and that any decision would be reached through consensus among all parties.

'Blue wave' to Putrajaya

Zahid believed that BN's "blue wave" could soon reach Putrajaya again, buoyed by the coalition's double victories in the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state polls, the Malay Mail reported.

“Politics is a different matter, but God willing, the blue wave will come.

“The blue wave will continue. From Johor to Negeri Sembilan, and God willing, arrive here.

"I’m not sure if it will reach Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah but I will make sure it reaches Perlis,” Zahid was quoted as saying.

Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said that the nationalist party's membership registrations have skyrocketed following its triumph in Negeri Sembilan.

READ MORE: Loke and Aminuddin defeated in Negeri Sembilan

"The response to Umno online membership registration has been extraordinary following the Negeri Sembilan state election. Most of them are young people aged between 18 and 25," he posted on Facebook, accompanied by the membership breakdowns.

Of the 18,650 new registrations, 10,080 (54 percent) were under the youth wing, followed by 4,156 (22 percent) ordinary members, 2,288 (12 percent) Puteri wing members and 2,126 (11 percent) women’s wing members.

Bad news for Harapan

The 16th general election could end with a 20-year setback for Pakatan Harapan if the BN-Perikatan Nasional pact continues its momentum and turns its “Malay unity” wave into a tsunami.

READ MORE: BN-PN tsunami could push Harapan to worst GE outcome since 2008, S'gor defeat

The Negeri Sembilan election showed that BN-PN voters were highly motivated by the pact’s communal agenda, fueled by anti-DAP sentiments and perceptions that the Harapan-led Madani government has not made life better.

Their ballots on Aug 1 closely matched BN and PN’s combined vote share from GE15 with almost perfect vote transferability between the two.

A Malaysiakini analysis applying this same formula to the peninsula shows that if BN-PN can sustain their vote shares from GE15 into GE16, the pact could secure 122 seats - 10 more than a simple majority - allowing it to form the federal government without support from the Borneo states.

Harapan would be left with just 43 MPs in the peninsula - 37 fewer than what they achieved almost 20 years ago during the 2008 polls.

Harapan could also lose Selangor to the BN-PN pact while its hold on Penang could erode further.

For the Parliament seats, the analysis indicated that Harapan would be pigeon-holed into urban areas and mixed seats with losses stretching from Penang to Johor, and even in the Klang Valley.

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