DAP lost or gained from collaborating with Umno in the state polls last year?

Did DAP gain or lose from its collaboration with Umno during the state polls last year?

This is among the questions former federal lawmaker Ong Kian Ming answered in his paper entitled Scrutinizing the DAP’s success in the 2023 Malaysian State Elections that was published Yusof Ishak Institute, ISEAS.

“DAP gained an average 5 per cent increase in the level of support from 2022 to 2023, with an 8 per cent increase in Malay support and a 2 per cent increase in Chinese support,” Ong wrote.

“… working with Umno allowed the DAP to win by comfortable margins some of what would usually be marginal seats for the party.”

“DAP gained the largest transfer of Malay votes from older voters who show stronger allegiance to BN. These findings show that Umno’s grassroots outreach is still somewhat effective among older voters but much less so among younger voters,” wrote Ong who is now program director for Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Taylor’s University,

The above are among the key findings highlighted in Ong’s paper.

He also foresees a weakening DAP in the future since an increase in younger Malay voters would be advantageous for Perikatan Nasional.