This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on May 14, 2018 - May 20, 2018

SURPRISING the pundits, PAS performed beyond expectations in GE14, retaining Kelantan and, perhaps more shockingly, bagging neighbouring Terengganu as well.

Voters, angry at Barisan Nasional and its chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak mainly because of the rising cost of living and the 1MDB scandal, made sure to go with the Islamist party lest BN benefited from three-cornered fights.

PAS won a total of 18 seats at parliamentary level— nine in Kelantan, six in Terengganu and three in Kedah.

But what was particularly impressive was its success at state level in Terengganu and Kelantan, capturing a two-thirds majority in both states.

PAS managed to tighten its grip on Kelantan, grabbing 37 out of 45 seats. More interestingly, it wrested Terengganu from BN — only the second time this has happened in the history of the state — securing 22 out of 32 seats.

An Umno member who voted for the opposition in Terengganu tells The Edge that although he was unhappy with the aftermath, he wanted to remind BN’s top leadership that the verdict of the grassroots and the rakyat counted.

“I am not against the party, I am against the current central leadership. There could not have been a worst outcome … but it had to be done,” he stresses.

At the same time, Amanah member of parliament for Shah Alam, Khalid Samad, observes that there was no vote splitting between his former party PAS and Pakatan Harapan in the two east coast states. This was also not evident in Kedah where PAS secured 15 state seats.

He concedes in an interview with a local news agency last Friday that in the Malay-majority states, voters had preferred PAS to Pakatan Harapan.

Shrinking support for BN in Terengganu

In truth, support for BN has been declining since GE12 in line with the loss of popular support for the coalition at national level.

In GE14, support appears to have reached the tipping point.

Take the Ajil state seat — formerly a BN stronghold, the seat fell to PAS candidate Maliaman Kassim who emerged with a razor-thin four-vote majority against BN’s Ghazali Taib. Pakatan Harapan’s Zamani Mamat trailed a distant third.

Critics contend that the decision to “recyle” veteran candidates linked to BN’s three former menteri besar may have helped suppress infighting among the three camps, but the decision did not go down well with the voters.

While all three ex-state leaders — BN state chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman (Seberang Takir), Datuk Seri Ahmad Said (Kijal) and Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh (Besut) — retained their parliamentary seats, their team members were not so lucky.

One high-level casualty was former minister of agriculture Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek in Kemaman.

PAS also dethroned Pakatan Harapan Terengganu chairman Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah in Kuala Terengganu. Not only did Raja Kamarul Bahrin lose his parliamentary seat but he was also defeated at the state level. He lost both his seats to PAS candidates Amzad Hashim (Kuala Terengganu) and Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi (Batu Buruk). Muhammad is PAS youth chief and the son of PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang.

PAS’ strategy of using a fresh line-up of better qualified candidates to push its vision of a “technocratic government” also helped persuade voters in the oil-rich state.

In total, it fielded 19 new faces in Terengganu with more than a third of the 40 candidates in the state being professionals, businessmen or qualified in Islamic studies.

Ahmad Samsuri Mohktar, an aerospace engineer, had been mooted as the Terengganu menteri besar designate.

Others include engineer Saiful Azmi for the Kemasik state seat and electrical engineer Nurkhuzaini Abdul Rahman for Kota Putera.

Pakatan Harapan third option in east coast

While Pakatan Harapan proved popular in the west coast, it was a very different story in the more conservative east.

Kelantan menteri besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob told a press conference last Thursday that PAS was not surprised by the wipe-out of the coalition in the east coast. “Pakatan Harapan’s approach and struggle are less suited to the voters in the east coast compared with those in the west coast,” he said in reference to the coalition’s more liberal approach to issues concerning Islam.

This sentiment was perhaps most evident in the contrasting fortunes of Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz and his older brother Nik Omar.

Both sons of the late PAS spiritual leader Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Nik Mohd Abduh — former PAS youth chief and a staunch supporter — delivered the party a win in the parliamentary seat of Bachok, defeating Mara chairman and BN candidate Datuk Awang Adek Hussin.

Emerging on the political scene only on nomination day, Nik Omar had a much rougher ride at the polls where he received scant support. Touted as Pakatan Harapan’s menteri besar designate for Kelantan, his maiden political foray saw him emerging a dismal last in the Chempaka state seat.

Ironically, given the strong impression he made on the big city crowds attracted to his more moderate and accepting form of Islam in the short 11-day campaigning period, the soft-spoken ulama would likely have been a shoo-in had he contested in the west coast.

Young voters who constitute about a third or 33.4% of Kelantan’s 1.05 million voters, according to EC data, also played a major role in PAS’ victory, according to Ahmad Yakob, who secured the Pasir Pekan state seat.

Returning Kelantanese, who made up 14% to 19% of voters, also ensured Kelantan remained in PAS hands.

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