Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama), led by former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, has been accused of splitting votes and indirectly benefiting Barisan Nasional (BN) in several seats during the Johor state election.
DAP Disciplinary Committee chairman Tony Pua claimed Bersama’s participation affected Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) chances of retaining several seats, while also putting the coalition’s victories in some areas at risk.
He said Bersama acted as a “spoiler” by drawing away votes that could have otherwise gone to PH candidates.
“Bersama only became a vote disruptor. We lost Perling by around 1,800 votes, while Bersama received nearly 3,000 votes,” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
Tony also claimed that Bersama nearly caused PH to lose the Stulang seat, where DAP won by a narrow margin of about 600 votes.
The Johor state election saw BN retain control of the state government after securing 48 out of 56 state seats, eight more than its previous performance in the 2022 election.
PH, which is now the only opposition bloc in the Johor assembly, won eight seats compared with the 13 seats it previously held.
Tony, a former Damansara MP, said PKR also lost the Bukit Batu seat due to what he described as vote splitting caused by Bersama.
He argued that supporting Bersama candidates effectively opened the path for BN victories in several constituencies.
Reflecting on the election results, Tony acknowledged that DAP had expected a difficult contest as Johor remains one of Umno’s strongest states.
He said BN’s decision to hold the state election separately was a strategic move, while PAS’ call for its supporters to back BN candidates in seats where Perikatan Nasional did not contest made the challenge even tougher for PH.
Before polling day, Tony said he expected DAP to retain seven out of the 10 seats it contested. However, the party managed to defend six seats after losing two narrowly contested constituencies.
He described the result as disappointing but still manageable, adding that DAP must continue improving its performance.
Tony said the party’s focus would now shift towards the upcoming Negeri Sembilan state election, which he described as having a different political landscape from Johor.
