SHAH ALAM: The triumph of Perikatan Nasional (PN) in retaining Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah, as well as securing several state seats in Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan, underscores the Malay voters' support for the coalition.
Its chairman, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, stated that PN's significant success in garnering Malay voter support signifies the coalition's emergence as the political platform for Malays, showing that UMNO is no longer relevant.
"The victory of PN in retaining states like Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah with a substantial win is evidence of the support from Malay voters towards PN.
"At the same time, PN has made major inroads by winning 22 seats in Selangor compared to the previous five held by PN," he said during a press conference here, early this morning.
Muhyiddin remarked that the success in capturing 22 seats also signifies PN's ability to deny the two-thirds majority of the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) government in Selangor, which was previously considered their stronghold.
He believed that if the voter turnout percentage had been higher, PN would have succeeded in claiming Selangor.
"In Penang, as anticipated, the wave of Malay voter support in the state has brought significant success to PN, winning 11 out of 15 Malay-majority seats.
"In fact, this is a significant blow to (Prime Minister, Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, as all the state assembly seats in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency were won by PN," he said.
Emphatically, he stated that Umno is no longer relevant, only managing to secure 19 out of 108 contested seats, thereby losing 82 per cent of the total seats.
Moreover, he mentioned that PN successfully won mixed seats like Kulim and small Malay-majority seats in Derga, illustrating PN's support from non-Malay voters as well.
"This proves the massive rejection by Malay and non-Malay communities alike towards the fragile political coalition and false unity led by Anwar and (Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad) Zahid Hamidi.
"Hence, it is true that these state elections have become a referendum on the people's rejection of the PH-BN coalition government," he added.
Therefore, he stated that Anwar and Ahmad Zahid, who lead the coalition, must take moral responsibility by resigning as prime minister and deputy prime minister immediately.