PETALING JAYA: Analysts have brushed off Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh’s “hardline” stance on defending Islam in the “Allah” socks issue, saying it is unlikely to help Umno win back Malay voters.
Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said Akmal’s call for a boycott of KK Mart, the convenience store chain involved, would not woo conservative Malay-Muslims whom he said would prefer Perikatan Nasional (PN).
On the other hand, he said Umno risked being rejected by moderate Malays who supported the dominant Barisan Nasional (BN) component due to its alliance with Pakatan Harapan (PH).
“Akmal’s efforts could attract some Malays, I don’t deny that, but it won’t be a big wave of support. We can’t say that traditional Umno voters (who have since shifted allegiance to PN) will return to Umno.
“Additionally, after Umno joined the unity government, its rivals kept linking Umno to DAP, pushing the narratives that DAP is dominating Umno (in the government) and that Umno just follows DAP’s lead.
“These sentiments have further reduced Malay support for Umno,” Mazlan told FMT, adding however that cutting ties with PH and DAP was not the way forward.
Instead of spreading divisive messages involving race or religion, he said, Umno should support the authorities’ investigations, leaving them to handle sensitive issues.
“Umno should work hard to protect the rights of the Malays as stated in the constitution, while bringing people from different races together without following the rhythm of racial and religious extremism through hardline stances.”
Mazlan added that BN, during its 61 years in power, had garnered non-Malay support through its alliance with MCA, MIC and Gerakan, while also retaining the backing of the Malays.
He said the watershed was the emergence of issues like the 1MDB scandal and the integrity of top leaders being called into question.
He said both PH and PN had taken advantage of these issues in campaigning against BN in the 2022 general election, which led to a further drop in support for the once dominant coalition which went on to its worst electoral outing yet.
Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir agreed that Akmal’s KK Mart boycott campaign would not affect voting patterns, saying religious issues usually calm down without affecting the number of votes very much.
“There is plenty of time for elections, and many factors can influence voting habits,” he said.
Emphasising compassion and forgiveness, Jeniri also said leaders should not be too extreme about matters of race and religion to prevent tension and misunderstandings.
“It is important for leaders to act rationally as people are watching us, even globally,” he said, adding that the matter would eventually cool down.
“Political parties shouldn’t blow this up further, and we need to learn how to move on.”
