Upko on life-saving mission by joining PH, say analysts

KOTA KINABALU: Upko, the newest member in Pakatan Harapan, is aiming to revive its fortunes through the national opposition coalition after being almost decimated in the last Sabah polls, say political analysts.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer Lee Kuok Tiung said it is better to join a political coalition instead of “standing alone”.

“Last year’s state election saw them lose badly with their own logo, so using the PH logo might help them perform better in the coming 15th general election (GE15),” he told FMT.

“But I’m curious to see how Upko will campaign for PH then because they went all-out to bash them in GE14.”

Sabah UiTM’s Tony Paridi Bagang agreed with Lee but noted that only time would tell whether it was a good move on Upko’s part.

“Upko realises that being a ‘lone ranger’ can mean the party facing a similar fate as other smaller local political parties,” he said.

“Being part of PH, it can reposition itself in the current political scenario and prepare for the next election.”

Bagang said one of PH’s struggles was to enforce “new politics” in Malaysia, which demands more democratic participation, good governance and going beyond race politics.

“This in line with the rebranded Upko that is anchored on the same idea.”

Yesterday, Upko became the fourth and latest member of PH, initially made up of PKR, DAP and Amanah. It has one MP (Tuaran) in its president, Wilfred Madius Tangau.

Contesting as part of the Warisan Plus loose coalition in last September’s state election, the party, unlike DAP, declined to use the Warisan flag.

Instead, it used its own to vie for the 12 seats it was given, which was six more than what it was allocated when it contested under the Barisan Nasional ticket in GE14.

However, the party, which was defending the five seats it secured in GE14, only won one seat and lost the others, including the Kiulu state constituency contested by Tangau.

Upko trying to distance itself from Warisan

Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun said Upko joining PH was a tactical move to distance itself from Shafie Apdal, whose Warisan party had always been accused of being friendly to illegal immigrants.

Oh said this was particularly prevalent in the Kadazan Dusun Murut (KDM) community, adding that Warisan had time and again attempted to shed the perception, including Shafie coming out to rubbish the notion numerous times.

It was because of the poor support from the KDM voters, particularly in rural areas, that cost Shafie the state election, he said, contending that Upko had come to the realisation that it needed to pull away from Warisan because of this.

“The KDM voters, especially those in rural areas and not so much in urban areas, somehow just don’t like Shafie. So, if you associate with him, then you will probably have lost support among the KDM communities,” he said.

“You could see it in the results of the Sabah election where large numbers from the KDM communities actually voted for either PBS, STAR or even Umno and Bersatu.

“So, this is a tactical move by Upko to, at least before the election, distance itself a little bit from Shafie. But I think they will still work together if all of them win seats in GE15.”

However, Oh cautioned that by welcoming Upko into its fold, PH now has a fresh set of issues to deal with over seat negotiations for the next election.

“How many (seats) will go to PKR, DAP and Upko? And after that, PH as a whole will need to coordinate with Shafie as well because there are KDM seats contested by Warisan because it is a multi-racial party.

“But this move by Upko gives a boost to PH and the opposition because, number one, it means elected MPs still see hope in PH and are therefore willing to join them.

“Second, it is also like the first testament to the ‘big tent’ concept (mooted by PH). In that sense this is encouraging,” he said. — Free Malaysia Today