ALOR SETAR: For the people or loyalty to the party? This is the question that both PAS Kedah and Barisan Nasional (BN) Perak, kingmakers in their respective states, need to answer before making a decision pertaining to the formation of the respective state governments.
Prof Madya Dr Rusdi Omar, an observer of local politics, said the political situation in both states is similar and that the decision the parties make should benefit the rakyat.
“In Kedah where PKR is one seat short of a simple majority and needs only one seat to form the state government, we find that Umno can be the kingmaker.
“Looking at all three Umno leaders who won, they are very close to each other and have worked with Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir when he was the Kedah Menteri Besar. When things are more settled, they may want to consider working with their old boss,” he said.
Pakatan Harapan won 18 state seats at the 14th General Election while PAS has 15 seats while BN lost Kedah when it only managed to retain three seats namely Datuk Dr Ku Abd Rahman Ku Ismail (Guar Chempedak), Datuk Suraya Yaacob (Sungai Tiang) and Datuk Norsabrina Mohd Noor (Bandar Baharu).
Five years ago, BN won 21 of the 36 state seats contested.
Rusdi, who is a lecturer at the International Relations Studies Centre of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), however, said in Perak, PAS is the kingmaker to PKR.
“PAS is noted for its strict principles but for the sake of the rakyat, they need to get together to strengthen the administration and governance of the state.
“The rakyat will evaluate them and the parties which are kingmakers need to make the smart decision favouring the rakyat,” he said.
In Perak, no party obtained the slim majority of 30 out of 59 state seats with BN securing only 27 seats, PKR (29) and PAS (3).