Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid says they should be eyeing urban seats, while Mazlan Ali believes they will remain irrelevant outside one of the three coalitions.
00:00Party Socialist Malaysia is likely to fare poorly if it contests in the IREKUNING by-election despite having Mudah's backing, according to analysts.
00:11University Technology Malaysia's Mazlan Ali said PSM and Mudah were eyeing the Perak state seat as it was a mixed constituency with non-Malay voters making up about 40% of the electorate.
00:23However, Mazlan said PSM-Mudah would not pose much of a challenge to Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional and would continue to be largely irrelevant unless they partnered one of these three coalitions.
00:36Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of University Science Malaysia expects the PSM candidate to lose his deficit, saying neither the party nor Mudah have any conventional sources of support in the constituency.
00:48On Saturday, PSM's Deputy Chief S. Art Selvin said the party intends to field a candidate in April 26 by-election. Mudah later said it would support PSM's campaign.
01:00Meanwhile, Fauzi said both parties should look to contest urban seats as there would be a higher percentage of disenchanted voters due to higher cost-of-living pressures, among other issues.
01:10However, Mazlan cast doubt on Mudah and PSM's ability to perform better in urban seats, saying both parties' candidates lost their deficits when they contested for urban seats during the 2023 six-state polls.
