PETALING JAYA: Adly Zahari is the best choice as Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) “poster boy” for the Nov 14 Melaka state election, having been the only Malay-Muslim PH leader to retain his seat in the 2021 polls, says an analyst.
Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said Adly’s performance reflected his ability to attract support across racial groups, including the Malays, in an election which saw Barisan Nasional (BN) secure a landslide victory.
He said Adly’s tenure as chief minister from 2018 to 2020 earned him a reputation as a high-performing leader whose policies and programmes differed significantly from those of the previous BN administration.
“I believe he is the most suitable and deserving candidate for PH to put forward as a poster boy. He would certainly be able to garner massive support,” he told FMT.
Mazlan said Adly was known as a reformist who maintained transparency in governance while seeking to improve the public’s quality of life and strengthen Melaka’s economy.
He also called on PH to name Adly as its candidate for chief minister early, saying his track record could help the coalition boost public support.
Mazlan was responding to Federal Territories Amanah deputy chairman Hayatul Kamil, who on Oct 12 called for party vice-president Adly to be named PH’s poster boy for the polls.
Hayatul cited Adly’s experience as Melaka chief minister as one of his key strengths. He also noted that Adly has served as deputy defence minister since December 2022, giving him an administrative edge over other PH leaders whose experience has been largely at the state level.
Personal appeal may not be enough
University of Tasmania analyst James Chin, who also viewed Adly as a strong choice, said his time in office was generally remembered for the absence of major scandals, which helped shape perceptions of his administration.
“People regard his administration as basically drama-free more than anything else,” he said.
However, Chin cautioned that Adly’s personal appeal might not be enough to overcome the electoral advantage enjoyed by Umno and PAS if the two parties worked together.
He said cooperation between Umno and PAS could sustain a strong Malay voting bloc, making it difficult for PH to make significant gains.
Chin said BN could win 22 or 23 of the 28 state seats, although he did not think the coalition would necessarily reach the 25-seat projection made by former DAP MP Ong Kian Ming.
He said the outcome would depend heavily on whether Umno and PAS will continue to support each other, while PH had yet to present a clear picture of its electoral strategy.
In the 2021 Melaka polls, BN won 21 seats, while PH won five and Perikatan Nasional took two. Umno assemblyman Jailani Khamis (Rembia) later defected to PAS before the state’s anti-hopping law came into effect.
On Oct 13, Ong projected that BN could increase its seat tally to 24 or 25, potentially taking one or two seats from PH, including Adly’s Bukit Katil constituency and the DAP stronghold of Ayer Keroh.