Pakatan Harapan (PH) believes identity politics and racial-based campaigning were among the main factors behind its defeat in the Negeri Sembilan state election.
PH Election Director Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said campaign discussions were dominated by issues of race and identity, overshadowing debates on the coalition’s administrative record and election manifesto.
According to him, PH had hoped voters would focus on its governance achievements and policy proposals, but those issues failed to gain traction throughout the campaign period.
“Unfortunately, our manifesto was not the main topic of discussion. Instead, the conversation centred on whether this was about Malays or non-Malays, and whether people supported DAP or not.
“We also saw campaign videos claiming that Pakatan Harapan leaders did not even know how to recite the syahadah. This reflects how identity politics was played throughout the campaign,” he said during a PH press conference on Saturday.
Amirudin said the coalition had used various platforms, including social media, mainstream media, house-to-house campaigning and manifesto distribution, to communicate its plans and achievements to voters.
However, he acknowledged that those efforts were not enough to shift public attention away from race and identity-based narratives during the election campaign.
Based on the unofficial results, PH secured only 11 of the 36 seats contested in the Negeri Sembilan state election, ending the coalition’s administration of the state.
