KOTA KINABALU: Sabah State Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak yesterday said elections are won through seats and not popular vote.
He said this in his blog following Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s reminder that Umno is suffering from trust deficit among the voting populace.
Salleh said that Umno should instead face up to the fact that no government in the world enjoys 100% support and having less popular support has nothing to do with trust deficit.
“This has nothing to do with trust deficit but it is a worldwide trend. Umno needs to be realistic and not live in denial about this,” he said.
Salleh added the issue of having less popular support cannot be “taken personally” by Umno members.
“In this environment, even winning 45% of the popular vote is considered extraordinary.”
He said Barisan Nasional (BN) won 60% of the Parliament seats in the 2013 general election despite gaining only 47% of the popular support, and compared it to the United Kingdom where the government was formed after winning just 51% of the seats.
He attributed low popular support to global economic climate, saying that Malaysia as a highly trade dependent country cannot run away from consequences of global economy.
“Ambition and goals are not important for most voters, especially if they have no money – ambition can’t put food on the table,” he said.
Muhyiddin said at an event in Johor Baru on Saturday that the party seems to be suffering from trust deficit and urged the party’s younger members to work on that.