ABSTRACT
Since Barisan Nasional had struggled to retain control of the Perak government in the 2008 and 2013 general elections, the emergence of three-cornered fights involving its leading party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the newly-formed multi-party Pakatan Harapan and Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) was expected to split electoral votes. These three-cornered battles were projected to favour BN in Malaysia’s General Election 14 in 2018, allowing it to easily return to power in Perak and at the federal level.
This chapter focuses on three constituencies, Bagan Datuk, Teluk Intan and Parit Buntar. In Bagan Datuk, with 60% Malay voters, UMNO, PAS and PH were contesting a seat where its incumbent, UMNO’s Deputy President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, was confronted with serious party factionalism. In semi-rural Parit Buntar, with 69% Malay voters, the incumbent, Mujahid Yusof, had left PAS and was now a PH candidate. Parit Buntar’s voters were long staunch PAS supporters. In Teluk Intan, a 60% non-Malay-majority seat, the contest involving two major Chinese-based parties from BN and PH was expected to provide insights into non-Malay voting trends. An assessment of these constituencies offers insights into serious intra-UMNO feuding that led to the fall of Perak to PH.
