Time to take BN seriously?

PETALING JAYA: If the Kimanis by-election result is anything to go by, then Pakatan Harapan (PH) has everything to worry about Barisan Nasional’s (BN) resurgence.

When BN lost federal power in the 14th general election on May 9, 2018, its first defeat in over 60 years, many pundits and voters believed it could take over a decade before the coalition even dreams about a return to Putrajaya.

The former ruling coalition was decimated after most of its component parties – barring Umno, MCA and MIC – left and many of its lawmakers hopped over to PH’s greener pastures.

This was further compounded by the prosecution of several of its top leaders.

However, fast forward 20 months, and it would be almost unwise to think BN does not stand a chance in the next general election.

“In fact, if Parliament was to be dissolved in the next two months, I think BN would come out tops,” Universiti Malaya sociopolitical analyst Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi told theSun yesterday.

“PH really needs to change. If they continue with their denial syndrome, the rakyat will punish them. If they can punish a government that has been in power for 60 years, what makes you think they can’t do the same for a single-term government?”

On the swing in support, Awang Azman said it was more down to PH’s own failures, adding that the biggest factor that led to PH’s defeat was its failure in communicating government policies well to the rakyat.

Another political analyst, Dr Asri Salleh, said while he believed PH still holds the support of urban voters and that Kimanis should not be made the sole yardstick for BN’s growing popularity. The opposition coalition has made good strides and need to keep the momentum going into GE15 to have a chance of winning.

The UITM Sabah lecturer added it was incumbent on the ruling government to fulfil all its manifesto promises to have a chance of shoring up its waning support.

The way things are going, it seems like BN’s resurgence could come down to not what it is doing right, but more what PH is doing wrong.

And unthinkable as it may seem, the possibility of PH becoming a one-term government is now not too far-fetched to believe, unless the coalition pulls up its socks.

And pull them up fast.