Najib house arrest ruling reopens PH-BN political divide ahead of Melaka polls

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Kritik
12 Nov 2026
30
SubCategory | Public Sentiment

Najib house arrest ruling reopens PH-BN political divide ahead of Melaka polls

By Qirana Nabilla Mohd Rashidi

PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling allowing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence under house arrest has reopened political fault lines between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) ahead of Saturday’s Melaka state election.

International Islamic University Malaysia political analyst Assoc Prof Dr Syaza Shukri said the ruling could revive divisions between PH supporters, who may be unhappy with the outcome, and BN supporters, who could view it as another political victory for Umno and its former president.

She said the development had brought the political narrative surrounding Najib back into focus, making it difficult for PH to distance itself from the decision as a component of the Unity Government.

“PH supporters feel angry that Najib is ‘out’, whereas BN supporters are in celebratory mode.

“The thing is, PH is involved in this decision, so it becomes difficult for PH to counter the narrative that Najib is bad. For BN, this is another win and they could use it to build momentum ahead of the Melaka polls,” she told theSun.

Syaza cautioned against assuming that the ruling would translate directly into stronger support for BN in Melaka, as Najib’s influence remains more significant at the national party level.

She said Najib continued to wield influence within Umno, including through his family, while a sense of nostalgia for his leadership appeared to be growing among some sections of the public.

“With so much time having passed since 2018, people are starting to feel nostalgic about him.”

Syaza said BN supporters were likely to welcome the ruling, while fence-sitters could find themselves in a more difficult position as they assessed PH’s role in the development.

She said voters did not necessarily separate national political developments from their choices at state level.

She added that some voters might see a BN-led state government as beneficial if they perceived Umno and BN to be gaining strength nationally.

“The ruling could further dampen voter turnout but its impact is difficult to predict. Following the Johor and Negeri Sembilan elections, there is now greater motivation for voters to come out and cast their ballots.

“The Najib issue could also serve as a rallying call for people to vote as they did in 2018.

“What to look for I think really is turnout.

“That would tell us how much this has impacted PH especially and how people feel about the state of our politics today and whether they feel a sense of hopelessness.

“But if turnout is good, it shows that Malaysians are not done fighting corruption and are serious in standing for their principles.”

UiTM security and political analyst Dr Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin said the issue was likely to resonate more strongly with Umno’s grassroots and committed supporters rather than influence voters across the board.

He said the controversy reflected established patterns of partisan loyalty, particularly among supporters of major political parties, but its impact on undecided and non-partisan voters remained uncertain.

Noor Nirwandy said voters without strong party affiliations, including younger voters, were more likely to assess the parties based on government stability, cooperation between the federal and state administrations, and their ability to deliver socio-economic progress.

Source: najib-house-arrest-ruling-reopens-ph-bn-political-divide-ahead-of-melaka-polls

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