An Umno leader has reminded his colleagues to remain grounded following Barisan Nasional’s (BN) landslide victory in the Melaka polls on Saturday.
Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan said it was important for parties within the coalition to view the convincing win in the proper context, and not completely buy into the suggestion that BN had managed to bounce back and could dominate in the upcoming general election.
“Right after the official announcement was made, there were many theories as to what this win means to the political scenario in Malaysia and to the voters, in general,” said Shahril.
“In this early stage, I would like to remind myself and my colleagues that we must be careful.”
He pointed out that the coalition should not get carried away with the win, as their every step or misstep, every action or inaction, would be closely watched by the rakyat. He also called for an in-depth analysis of every aspect – from the BN to the opposition and voters – that influenced the outcome in Melaka.
“Post-mortems aren’t just important when the results do not favour us. It is equally important when we win, so that we don’t make a mistake in summing up the victory. We need to know why and how we won, the contributing factors that led us to win (the seats) and if the same (strategy) could be used elsewhere.
“What needs to be improved, needs to be improved. There’s no harm in constantly being in a ‘chasing mode’, instead of just being comfortable. ‘Comfortable’ leads to complacency.
He added there was no better recipe for continued success than to maintain the credibility of the party in the eyes of the people.
Pakatan Harapan won five seats in the 28-seat election, while Perikatan Nasional won two.
The polls saw a turnout of 65.85 per cent, below the 70 per cent target initially predicted by the Election Commission.
