Multi-ethnic BN to suffer as Umno set to contest as many seats as possible on its own

[superadmin]

Multi-ethnic BN to suffer as Umno set to contest as many seats as possible on its own to deter Perikatan, analysts suggest

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Barisan Nasional’s (BN) odds running up to the general election has become much more tenuous as the coalition's lynchpin party, Umno faces a tense relationship with the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, according to political analysts.

Marred by poor performance in the last few general elections and fighting for relevance post-GE14, political analysts find both component parties MCA and MIC to be worse off and will face a very tough road ahead under the BN coalition, with Umno set to dominate the stage.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia geostrategist Prof Azmi Hassan said Umno, which has the most influence in BN, had gone past “labelling” the coalition as “multi-cultural” and has instead rushed to merely win as many seats as possible.

“Umno grassroots are quite vocal that they want to contest all Malay majority seats, including Ayer Hitam and Tapah. Even though Datuk Seri M. Saravanan and Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong managed to scrape by [in the last election], the votes are coming from Umno voters,” he said.

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