PONTIAN: Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) must work harder to thwart Perikatan Nasional (PN)'s "Green Wave" sentiments before it becomes a threat in the upcoming Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections on Sept 9.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said the PH-BN pact should not underestimate the threat in order to avoid similar failure in Selangor during the recently concluded elections in six states.
PN assemblymen currently hold three seats out of the 56 seats in the Johor state assembly. They are Bersatu's Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal in Bukit Kepong and Alwiyah Talib in Endau, and Pas's Abdul Aziz Talib in Maharani.
"The "Green Wave" sentiment can further spread if its left unchecked. Pas's (PN coalition party) presence can be felt in various regions, including Johor.
"They are persistent despite knowing that they will lose the seats they are contesting in. As a precautionary measure, strategic steps must be taken to ensure what happened in Selangor does not occur here in Johor," he said after the Pulai Sebatang state seat-level 'Pemimpin Bersama Masyarakat Madani' event at the Pontian Umno division office here today.
Ahmad said in the 2018 state election, Pas won five seats in Selangor but on Aug 12, Pas and its allies in PN increased its performance by securing 22 seats in the state.
The deputy finance minister said among the strategies to stop the green wave sentiment is for the PH-BN pact to explain to the people the need for DAP to be part of the unity government coalition.
"Our BN-PH election machineries must address the people's doubts about this and explain two major points-- the unity government was established at the behest of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the sake of national stability; and the rational behind DAP's inclusion in the coalition must be clarified.
"I have realised these two points were not explained to the people in the recent state elections," said Ahmad, who is Johor deputy Umno chairman.
He said all 24 state Umno divisions will be involved to help in the by-election machinery in Pulai and Simpang Jeram.
Umno chairman Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin will lead the overall BN election machinery, while Ahmad will be serving as coordinator for BN's machinery specificially in Pulai.
Political observers have referred to PN's political influence as the "green wave", or green tsunami signifying the importance of Pas's role in the coalition's popularity among its supporters.
However, PN leaders such as Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang have claimed in the past that the coalition's political foes were misusing the term to sow seeds of Islamaphobic sentiments.